Arnold Loves Helga
by SuprSingr
Summary: Brought to you by "SuprNintendo Productions"... What would happen if Helga had never erased her name from the wall in the episode "Arnold and Lila"? The answer is inside.
1. The Wall and the Message

**A/N: Wuzz up, my frie-ends?!/ Hey, guys! What's up?**

**SuprSingr: Heyza, guys! Here's something that me, and Nintendo came up with for your viewing pleasure! Enjoy!**

**NintendoGal55: Hi, everyone! NintendoGal55 here! We're here today to present to you with a little something fun which we hope you're going to like.**

**The following is a "SuperNintendo Production" written by both SuprSingr and NintendoGal55.**

**Disclaimer: We own nothing!/All characters belong to Craig Bartlett! We just wrote the story!**

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**Arnold Loves Helga**

**Chapter 1**

"If only for one brief, mad moment it were true... Call me mad, but I dare. I dare!" Helga produced a piece of chalk in her hand, holding it up dramatically as she continued with her I love Arnold monologue soliloquy that she never failed to recite every day. "With this chalk and no witnesses in sight, I will write the words upon this wall which bear my soul, expressing all, I hope, I dream, I pine and I pray, with true, forever and a day."

She grinned brightly, and turned to the wall fully, beginning to write the name of the eternal holder of her heart, the name to which she dare not speak, in beautiful cursive with the chalk...

**_Arnold_**

"Arnold..." She narrated upon writing the most beautiful name ever to be heard upon her ears.

She lowered the chalk on the wall slightly, and began writing the next word, a very powerful word that she knew all too well, in her daring quest...

**_Loves_**

"Loves..."

She lowered it one last time, and wrote out her own name, still in the beautiful cursive hand writing, to complete the sentence that she had always dreamed would come true...

**_Helga_**

"Helga..."

She felt the message to be incomplete, so she drew a large heart around it, like wrapping it up in her own big pink bow to ensure it's safe delivery to the gods, who would hopefully have mercy on her and make her wish come true...

Helga let out a dreamy, lovesick sigh as she gazed upon the message with true happiness, feeling as if the words were true. For one fleeting moment, they were. And she could feel it, even if she knew she had written it herself, in her own little fantasy.

Reality then struck her like lightning as she heard the horrendous sound of footsteps, and voices approaching. And not just any voices.

"-She puts navy blue, and black. What was she thinking?" Came the all-too familiar, haughty voice of the infernal fashion and gossip Queen, Rhonda Wellington Lloyd.

Helga gasped, realizing her mistake. What had she been thinking? She had just written her biggest wish, relating to her deepest secret, right in plain sight for anyone who passes to see, and if they saw her standing there, they would know that she had written it. And Rhonda would of course never let her, or anyone at school, forget it.

She had to think fast, but what could she do? Any second now, Rhonda and whoever she was with would catch her and it would be over.

"So I said, 'Excuse me Miss Thing, this is the fashion police and I'm going to have to write you a ticket."

Helga hurriedly ran off out of sight, since that was pretty much her only option. Okay, so Rhonda and her cronies would see her message, but at least they wouldn't know that she wrote it, right? Not unless they knew her handwriting. Then again, she rarely wrote in cursive unless it was one of her love poems, so maybe, just maybe, she would be safe. At least a little.

Or heck, if she was REALLY lucky, they would brush it off as nonsense, considering her reputation around school, and who Arnold really was. Maybe they would think someone was just playing a silly prank, and then move on pretending like nothing had happened.

Better yet, maybe they wouldn't even see it! Maybe they would walk right past it and not even glance at it.

Yeah, maybe, just maybe.

"Hold up, girls." Rhonda suddenly said, stopping Lila and Nadine.

Helga tensed where she was hiding. Yep. They saw it.

"Will you look at that? 'Arnold loves Helga'." Rhonda read the message loud and clear off the wall.

"Wow, do you think it's true?" Nadine asked.

"Well it must be! It's written right there on the wall!" Rhonda declared. "Oh, this is rich. Can you believe that Arnold of all people actually loves Helga? The class bully? The least fashionable girl? Wow, I never would have thought."

"Gosh, I never expected Arnold to like her...and yet, it's just ever so sweet." Lila admitted and smiled. "I always figured he ignored her a lot of the time."

"Well obviously, he must have been keeping it secret because of the fact that Helga pretty much hates his guts!" Rhonda declared. "The poor, misguided kid. He just had to fall for someone who hates him."

"I don't know, Arnold is a nice boy, maybe there's something about Helga that he just can't help but love." Nadine suggested.

"Oh, maybe he sees her in a way that no one else does. Come to think of it, he does always seem to be just ever so nice to her. I remember yesterday he gave her the last tapioca pudding because she wanted it." Lila recalled. "But gosh, if she really does hate him that much...poor Arnold...he must be oh so heartbroken."

"Well girls, it's official, Arnold is definitely nuts." Rhonda said. "I wonder whatever happened to those other girls he's liked... There has to be something about Helga, because no way is she pretty, and niceness is definitely not in her attitude vocabulary. The only plausible way this could be true is if they were in a secret relationship."

"A secret relationship?" Lila questioned. "You think so?"

"Trust me Lila, I know these things. They must obviously keep their love a secret, because of the taboo, all the forbidden aspects of it! The bully and the victim in love? No one would ever accept it." Rhonda told her.

"Well...gosh... I never thought of it that way before." Lila murmured.

"Come on then ladies, we have much to talk about." Rhonda said haughtily, and led the girls away.

Once they were gone and out of earshot, Helga emerged from her hiding place, enraged and scared.

"I can't believe it! What have I done?! I was so STUPID in writing this dumb message on the wall! How could I have let Rhondaloid of all people see it?!" She cried, clutching her pigtails. "What am I gonna do now?! My poor beloved will be in trouble, and he'll have to face up to the humiliating gossip! And worse, my reputation will go down the drain! Or worse, my secret will be exposed! Oh...no! This I can't allow! I have to do something! But criminy, what can I do?! The cat is already out of the bag!"

Helga paced in front of the cursed wall, thinking of what she could do. She had to do something about this, without exposing the fact that she had written this message on the wall.

"Well, I guess all I can do is pretend I don't know about it." She murmured to herself. "At least it'll ward suspicion off me. Okay Helga, you can do this. You go to school, and you did NOT just write a forbidden message on the wall! Yeah, I can do that. And I will."

She emerged onto the street, took a few steps, a deep breath, and walked off with confidence.

This was going to be just fine.


	2. Arnold's Girlfriend

**A/N: Hi, folks. We have returned./We're baaaaaaaaaaaaaack!**

**NintendoGal55: And here's chapter two! The chaos begins as hilarity ensues upon our dear Arnold!**

**SuprSingr: MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Here's chaptarrrr two! }:D READ! ...or else. *Gets out knife* XD**

**The following is a "SuprNintendo Production" written by both NintendoGal55 and SuprSingr.**

**Disclaimer: We do not own any of the characters. We only wrote this story!/If we did own "Hey Arnold!", then this disclaimer wouldn't even be here!!!**

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**Arnold Loves Helga**

**Chapter 2**

Arnold stepped out of his house, and into the cold, crisp air that told of morning. He inhaled deeply, enjoying the smells that morning always brought, and then let it all out in a contented sigh.

He stepped down from his stoop, and walked over towards the bus stop, where Gerald was waiting for him. He knew that it was a beautiful day, and kind of wished he hadn't made plans to ride the bus with Gerald, so he could walk to school and really enjoy the morning, but the thought of pushing the window down, and feeling the cold, exhilarating morning air rush through his golden locks as the metal beast roared down the high way, caused him to quickly discard such thoughts from his mind.

He walked up to Gerald and smiled a little as they just casually did their "hand-shake", almost instinctually, upon seeing eachother. Gerald returned his smile, and shifted a little from foot to foot, his arms crossed over his chest coolly. "Hey, man."

"Good morning, Gerald." He greeted, "So, how did your sister's ballet lessons go?"

Gerald groaned, his entire demeanor suddenly becoming exasperated just at the mere mention of his little sister, Timberly, and her dance lessons. "Can you believe my parents made me go baby sit her? She always just prances around in her little tu- tu, and makes little fancy spins. It's not like she's ever going to get hurt or anything."

"So I'm guessing it went badly." Arnold assumed somewhat flatly.

Gerald crossed his arms over his chest again, as he looked down at his slightly shorter friend with wide eyes. "No, Arnold! Badly doesn't even begin to describe the intense boredom I felt, when all I was doing was sitting there, watching Timberly skip, and twirl, and pirou-whatever around the stupid studio!" He stuck his tongue out in distaste for a moment, and then drew it back into his mouth, settling for simply giving off a horrified expression.

Arnold frowned. "Gerald, I'm sure it wasn't THAT bad."

Gerald shook his head indignantly, and then looked back at Arnold with a seemingly dead look. "Sorry, man, but your optimism can't possibly make my past experience seem any better."

Arnold shifted his eyes down, but then looked back up at him curiously. "Weren't you getting paid for watching over her?"

Gerald blinked, and then tilted his head a little, grinning. "I'd forgotten about that! Thanks, man!" He praised, placing a hand on Arnold's shoulder, "I stand corrected. Your optimism never ceases to amaze."

Arnold smiled at him, but it soon faded when he heard the startling sounds of the bus stopping in front of them.

Gerald took his hand back from his shoulder, and marched up to the doors of the bus, feeling a new bounce in his step thinking of all the cash he was going to be getting. The doors swished open mechanically, and he stepped on board, already scouting for some free seats.

Arnold was about to follow suit, but was suddenly pushed roughly aside by Helga, who scowled at him, stepping onto the bus. "Outta my way, Football Head!" She yelled at him, making an extra effort at her usual routine of pretending to hate her beloved, due to yesterdays events.

Arnold frowned at her, and straightened up, as she stormed through the bus, pushing aside anyone who dared to get in her way.

Arnold stepped onto the bus, and straightened up his clothes, scanning the bus for his best friend. He suddenly heard loud giggling being casted in his direction, and turned his head curiosly in the direction of the giggling. His eyes came to rest on Rhonda and Nadine, both sitting only about three rows away from where he stood. He blinked, but then simply shrugged it off and began walking down the aisle to the seat that he had spotted Gerald in.

"Oh look ladies, it's the lover boy himself!" Rhonda suddenly crooned, pointing toward Arnold.

"Huh?" Arnold was baffled, considering he didn't like any girls at the moment.

"Lover boy?" Gerald looked at his best friend with disbelief and confusion. "Arnold...you got some crush that I don't know about?"

"What? N-No, no!" Arnold shook his head. "No Gerald, I don't have a crush on anyone right now."

"Now now Arnold, no need to deny it." Rhonda said, coming over to where he and Gerald were sitting. "We know how you feel about her."

"Rhonda, what are you talking about?" Arnold asked patiently.

"Silly, why else would you have written 'Arnold Loves Helga' in chalk on a wall? It's pretty obvious now that you love Helga. I can't say I'm not sorry, but hey, who am I to argue with true love?" Rhonda smirked, crossing her arms.

"WHAT?!" Arnold cried in shock.

"Say WHAT?!" Gerald exclaimed.

"I-I...Rhonda, you've got it all wrong. I don't like Helga like that!"

From where she sat, Helga sank low in her seat, feeling heartbroken and yet relieved that no one suspected her. Phoebe, who was sitting beside her, looked at her with confusion and sympathy.

"Oh Arnold, you don't need to lie about it. It's actually just ever so sweet." Lila chimed in, taking the seat behind Arnold and Gerald.

"But I don't like her like that! I didn't write that message on the wall!" Arnold protested. "It must've been an accident or a sick joke."

"Denial...spoken like a true lovesick boy." Rhonda giggled, and returned to where she was sitting with Nadine.

Gerald blinked his eyes, looking from Arnold to Helga a few times, and then lowered his voice a little. "Okay man, seriously, you got some crush on Helga that I don't know about?"

"Gerald! I don't like her like her! Why would I, she's tormented me since preschool. She's my bully. I mean, sure, she's not so bad, but still. No, I don't like her like her. Whoever wrote that message on the wall was obviously playing a joke." Arnold said, crossing his arms.

"Whatever you say, Arnold." Gerald said coolly.

Meanwhile, where Helga sat toward the back of the bus, she rose herself back upright in her seat and sighed a little. This wasn't going too well at all. Sure, no one suspected her, which was good, but this was definitely not going to be taken lying down. By the end of the day, the whole school would know.

The bus pulled up to P.S. 118, and the students disembarked. The day had just begun.

* * *

Arnold walked into the classroom, and filed into his usual desk, as Gerald took the one beside him. He wondered who actually wrote the message, because the whole thing was just... weird. He knew that HE didn't do it, but if not him...

Who would possibly think such a preposterous thing? Him, in love with... Helga.

Just then, Helga walked through the door of the classroom, looking a little anxious. She walked past Arnold's desk, avoiding his questioning gaze, to sit in her usual seat directly behind him.

Arnold turned around in his seat, and stared at Helga with a somewhat unreadable expression, though it came off as a bit anxious himself.

A series of emotions ran across her face once she made eye contact with him. Startled, confused, lovesick, and finally, her face settled on her usual expression. A scowl. "Take a picture, Arnoldo. It'll last longer."

Arnold blinked at her, and began scratching his head as he stared. "Helga... you wouldn't happen to know anything about some sort of message on a wall... would you?"

Helga tensed immediately, though she knew she SHOULD have been ready for that question, it still panicked her a little. But she gained back her composure soon enough, and raised one side of her eyebrow at him. "What wall?" She asked, cursing herself for sounding a bit too suspicious.

Arnold squirmed a little, afraid of what her reaction would be if he just straight up told her. He took a deep breath. "Helga... Rhonda, Lila, and Nadine apparently saw some wall yesterday..." He began nervously, "and on it, it said that I loved you. And I just wanted to let you know before hand that it's a lie."

Helga looked heart broken for a split second, before giving off her most amused expression possible. She hated to do it, but it was for the sake of her secret. "Oh, so you love me?"

"What? No! Helga, I just wanted to let you know that I DON'T."

She didn't falter in the slightest. "Oh, really? This is just too juicy for words." She let out a cruel chuckle, making sure it was loud enough for everyone to hear. "So what, do you ENJOY the spitballs?" She chuckled, "Do you somehow find it cute when I trip you and make a mockery of your name? Do tell, Hair Boy. Do you write poetry about me too?" She fluttered her eyelashes at him, and then laughed again, a cruel, mean spirited laugh that rang out throughout the entire classroom.

Arnold looked horrified, even though he knew he should have expected this type of response from her.

"Pardon me, Helga," Gerald intervened. "If my man Arnold was in love with you, I think I'd know about it."

Helga shot him a scowl. "I didn't ask you, Geraldo."

Gerald rolled his eyes, shaking his head. "Point is, whoever wrote that message on the wall has gotta be lying. And I know Arnold, expressing his love on a wall in chalk ain't exactly his first choice. Trust me, I know."

"Oh please, there's a first time for-"

"Helga." Arnold cut her off as patiently as he could. "Listen if I...well...you know, did love you, I wouldn't write it on a wall in chalk. I'd tell you in private. I wouldn't humiliate either of us like that. I didn't do it, I swear. I don't know who did it or why they did it, but I know I didn't do it."

"Maybe you were sleepwalking." Helga challenged, laying her chin on her folded hands. "It could happen, you know."

Arnold just sighed, shaking his head. "I didn't do it, okay?" He turned back around in his seat just as Mr. Simmons came in.

This was going to be a long, long day.

* * *

"Ha ha! Arnold loves Helga!"

"Arnold and Helga sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G..."

"Hey Arnold, your girlfriend is over there! Maybe you should go see her!"

"Hey Arnold, your brain called, it wants your mind back!"

"Arnold loves Helga!"

"Hey Arnold, what's it like being Helga Pataki's boyfriend, huh? I bet it's scary!"

"Watch out, here comes Arnold! Don't be mean to him, he'll call his girlfriend to defend him!"

Recess was definitely no better. Arnold was trying to play baseball with Sid, Eugene, Gerald, Harold and Stinky, but everyone in sight just couldn't help but throw a tease toward the football-headed boy and his alleged love for Helga. He just couldn't escape it.

"Well gosh Arnold, if you really love Helga, that's great! I bet you guys would be a great couple!" Eugene said.

"Eugene, I don't love her." Arnold protested. "I didn't write that message on the wall."

"Boy howdy Arnold, out of all the girls in our class, you had to go for Helga?" Sid chimed in.

"I can't blame him much, I fell for her once." Stinky said, scratching his head.

"Guys, guys, let's all cut it out! Harold, you're up to bat." Gerald intervened.

"Awww, I wanted to tease Arnold some more! It's not every day he falls for someone like Helga! Hahahaha!"

Arnold let out a frustrated snarl and excused himself, going over to the swings so he could sit and think for a few minutes. This was not going well at all. Why did it everyone take the message on the wall seriously? Who could have done it? Why would they have done it? It didn't make any sense at all.


	3. Heavenly Plans from Heck

**A/N: Splendola, me Amigos!/Fantastique, mes amies!**

**SuprSingr: YAY! Chapter THREE! *Trumpets sound* You must now bow down to our amazing writing skiz-ills... or maybe we should bow down to you for taking the time to read our crap. XD**

**NintendoGal55: Singr makes a good point...but regardless...READ OUR STUFF! We worked hard on it to keep you people entertained!**

**The following is a "SuprNintendo Production" written by both SuprSingr and NintendoGal55.**

**Disclaimer: I wish we did own this show/Otherwise things would be different! We're just writing the story, we own nothing.**

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**Arnold Loves Helga**

**Chapter 3**

Arnold swung on the swing lowly, his head down, and his thoughts elsewhere. He almost wished that whoever wrote the message on the wall would come forward... so he could kick him or her in the shin. He wasn't usually a violent person... but this really sucked.

Gerald sat down on the swing beside him quietly, not saying a word for a good minute. "So..."

Arnold grunted, and shifted his face up to stare blankly at Gerald.

Gerald offered a smile, and held onto the chains of the swing, his feet on the ground pushing him back and forth. "There's a bright side to this, I know... but unfortunately I don't have your optimist skills, man... so what's the bright side? I'm sure kicking some of your optimism skills into use will make you feel better."

Arnold dropped his head again, and groaned. "_There is no bright side._"

Gerald gasped. "Arnold, man... what is wrong with you? First, you're in love with Helga, then you can't-"

He was cut off by Arnold standing up abruptly and giving him a scowl, and pointing a finger in his face. "That's just it, Gerald!" He withdrew his finger, and began gesticulating animatedly as he continued his rant. "I'm NOT in love with Helga. But everyone won't leave me alone about it! Everyone keeps teasing me for feelings that I don't even have! I've lost count to how many times I've had to set people straight, and when I do, they don't even listen to me! How could everyone take something that was written on a wall, in _chalk_, so seriously?!" He stopped, panting a little, but then crossed his arms over his chest, and gave his best friend a darkly incredulous look. "So tell me, Gerald... where is the bright side in this? You know how long these rumors can last. I could be in High School, with people still walking past me every once in a while saying things like, 'Hey Arnold, when are you finally going to pop the question to Helga?'. I'll never live this down."

Gerald blinked at him. "I think you're overreacting a little here, man. Rumors don't last that long. I'm sure all of this will have blown over by tomorrow." He smiled reassuringly.

"Hey, Arnold!" Sid ran up to the two boys, grinning widely. "Wow! I had no idea you loved Helga. Boy Howdy! This is the biggest thing to happen around here since Harold accidentally ate that whole bottle of glue and had to be sent to the hospital last month! This is going to be the talk of the school for months!" He slid his arm around Arnold's shoulders slyly. "So, since I _am_ one of your best friends and all... I was thinking you could give me all the juicy details."

Arnold groaned, and shrugged his arm off of his shoulders. "Sid, I am not in love with Helga."

Sid stared at him a moment, before breaking back out in a bright smile, and laughing a little. "Yeah, good one, Arnold. We all know the walls don't lie about these kinds of things." He took a card out from the inside pocket of his jacket and handed it to Arnold. "Here's my number... you know," He lowered his voice a little, "when you're ready to talk about it." He winked, before walking away.

Arnold growled, and crumpled the card up in his hand, and throwing it behind him. He plopped back down into the seat of the swing, and hung his head low.

Gerald simply gave him a sympathetic look.

Not too far off, behind a couple of trash cans, Helga had heard the whole thing. She gazed upon her beloved in remorse, before throwing her back against the trash cans, fully hiding her form as she cried dramatically, "Oh, Arnold, my poor, misguided Beloved. Tortured is your sweet, innocent soul... and I am the one who hath caused it. I should put dagger through my aching heart for raining such havoc upon one so good, so strong, so-" She was cut off by the sound of some raspy, shallow breathing coming from behind her. Her unibrow went straight, and her entire expression betrayed annoyance. She swung her fist back, and socked Brainy in the nose, causing the sound of breaking glass to meet her ears. A noise she knew as the sound of his glasses breaking.

She went back to her monologue then. "Oh, my poor Beloved. Everyone will be torturing him about this _forever_..." Her face fell blank then, and she smiled a little. "Eh, not my problem." She stood then, and wandered out from behind the trash cans.

"Oh look, there she is." Came the haughty tone of Rhonda. "Helga Helga dear, we heard so much about what's happened lately."

Helga gave her a cold scowl, her lips curling in annoyance. "I don't know what you're talking about, Princess."

"Oh, now let's not be rude." Rhonda said, nodding toward Lila and Nadine. "How does it feel to have dear Arnold so in love with you that he can't stand it?"

"I think it's just ever so sweet!" Lila gushed.

Feigning surprise, Helga's eyes widened. "What?! What are you....no way! There's no way that football-headed geek could love me! That's ridiculous!" She yelled loudly so Arnold would hear. "That's gross! Eww!"

Arnold glanced toward the girls upon hearing her shouting, feeling a small sense of relief. _At least Helga's on my side now._

"Oh Helga, does it really upset you that much?" Lila asked softly. "If it bothers you oh so much, you really should just talk to him in private."

"Yeah, I mean, Arnold is a pretty private boy about these things." Nadine added.

"PUH-LEASE, there's nothing to talk about! I hate that little freak, end of story! Now if you'll excuse me, I have better things to do than to listen to your girly lips flapping!" Helga said, and stomped away.

But it didn't stop there, much to Helga's chagrin.

The entire gossip apparently was not going to back to bite Arnold in the behind. It was going to go to the other person in the subject, and that was _her._

"Hey look, it's Arnold's girlfriend!"

"Hey Helga, missing your boyfriend?"

"Do you guys kiss?"

"Look it's Helga! Arnold's future wife!"

"Hey Helga, Arnold's calling you!"

"Arnold loves Helga! And because Arnold loves Helga, Helga loves Arnold!"

"Arnold and Helga sitting in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"

"SHUT UP, YOU BOZOS!" Helga screamed, and ran off into to the side of the school.

Okay, maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all.

Once safely sanctioned in the alley between the school and the fence, Helga paced back and forth in frustration. This was not going well at all, not only was Arnold getting endlessly tormented by their peers about this whole situation, but now she was too! That was not how she'd planned it, or intended, for that matter. She figured this silly, ridiculous "news" would last a few hours, or an entire day, and everyone would realize its ludacrousy and forget about it by tomorrow.

Unfortunately, she had no such privilege. This entire thing was pretty much her own fault, and she knew it. But she couldn't let it down that easy! If this kept up, their peers would still be talking about it in high school, and she couldn't let that happen! That would just be crazy. Even more crazy than it was right now! After all, high school also meant more peer pressure, hormones, and...she shook her head, deciding not to think about that now.

"I've GOT to put a stop to this!" She said to herself, still pacing. "Okay, I'll just go up to everyone and announce that I've turned Arnold down, he was heart broken for about an hour, got over it, and that was that. Sure heart break lasts longer than an hour, but those morons don't know anything about love, so I'm off the hook. Then everyone will leave me alone about it... they might pester Arnold more, but that's really not my problem."

Helga smiled contently at the plan, when her eyes suddenly widened, and her smile dropped...an evil grin slowly forming on her face. "_Ooooooooor_... I could confront Arnold in front of everyone, and tell him that he's got ONE chance with me, and that he can take me out on a date at 7... and to not be late, of course. And he won't be able to turn me down then, because... well, I won't let him."

An evil laugh escaped her then, adrenaline rushing through her veins as her plan came clear to her.

"Today at lunch, in the cafeteria, with everyone watching...perfect. You better cancel your plans for tonight Arnold, because you just got booked solid."

* * *

Arnold walked into the cafeteria, and was immediately greeted by laughter. He grunted, and tried to ignore their taunts as he walked over to the table that occupied his best friend.

"Hey Awwwwww-nold! Don't you have to go behind some trash cans with your girlfriend and kiss?!" Harold bellowed from behind him, and then began to make kissing noises, and causing Sid and Stinky to laugh.

Arnold ignored them, and slid into the seat beside Gerald. He sat his bagged lunch up on the table, then dropped his head face down onto the table.

Gerald attempted to come up with some kind of comforting words, but before he could say anything, the sound of yelling and shoving met his ears.

"One side, moron! Outta my way, dorks!" Helga's voice rang clear throughout the cafeteria.

Harold, Sid, and Stinky all stared at her with amused expressions.

"Hey, Heeeeelga! You gonna go kiss your-" He was cut off by Helga shoving him down roughly, not even glancing at him.

Sid and Stinky's eyes widened at this, and they immediately took a couple steps back from her in fear.

Helga stomped up to Arnold, making as big of a show of her arrival as she could, and then pounded her fist down onto the table.

Arnold's head immediately shot up, and he stared at her in surprise. Gerald's eyes widened along with his, and they both leaned back a little in their seats from the loud bang.

Helga cut her eyes at Arnold. "That's it, Football Head! I can't take it anymore! Everyone has been hassling me about all your stupid 'I love Helga' crap! And I'm sick of it! They won't leave me alone until I feed them SOMETHING!" She yelled, attracting a lot of attention on her as she continued, "So you've got ONE chance with me, Hair Boy, and that's it! Pick me up tonight at seven o'clock, and if you're late, I'll make you PAY! Got it?!" She poked a finger in his nose, giving off the hardest and most serious scowl she could produce.

Arnold's eyes widened at all this. "What?! No! Helga, I don't-"

"Save it, Arnold! One chance! One stupid date! And if you EVER try any of this 'I love you' garbage on me again after that, I'll pound you into the next millenium!" She waved her fist in front of his face for effect.

Feeling content with herself, she stormed out of the cafeteria.

Finally finding his voice again, Arnold shouted after her, standing up from his seat, "Helga! Wait! No!" The entire cafeteria immediately went into a buzz about what had just taken place. Arnold looked utterly mortified, as he stood frozen in shock.

Gerald looked horrified for his friend, and just sat in his seat, not knowing what to do.

Rhonda came up to him then, and looked at him in confusion. "Arnold, I thought she was already your girlfriend."

Arnold's eyes snapped to her dangerously. "She's NOT my girlfriend, Rhonda. I am not in love with her." He told her lowly, managing to keep himself under control.

Rhonda sighed, and shook her head. "Oh, denial. Poor Arnold..." She then smiled though, and placed a hand on his shoulder. "But now you've got a date with her! You have just GOT to tell me all about it afterwards! I want all the juicy details."

Arnold smiled a stiff smile at her, his eyes narrowed slightly. "Sure, Rhonda. Whatever you say."

She winked at him, and then wandered off to gossip about it all with the rest of the class.

Arnold dropped down into his seat, and let his head fall into his hands. "This is horrible." He groaned.

* * *

"Ohhhhhh! This is wonderful!" Helga squealed, twirling around in the girls bathroom.

She produced her locket and kissed his photo, and held it to her heart. "I have a date with the Angel! The wondrous boy who has stolen my heart since the beginning, the sweet and adorable Arnold....oh, how I love him! I love him I love him I love him!"

Okay, so it started out humiliating, embarrassing, and escalated into more than that, not to mention making a tough decision about what to do, which became this, actually demanding he take her out on a date, and now, a one-sided love date. Yes, she knew he probably wouldn't have the best of times, but she was determined to make the best of their first, and last date.

"Oh Arnold my love, how your tortured soul may resent that of which I dropped upon you...but know that I will do all that I can to make you see for what it truly is! Time spent together between you and I, for the first and last time..." She tucked her locket away and took a deep breath. "Okay, first things first, I will be nice to him tonight. Nice! I'm going to give him the best first real date of his life if it's the last thing I do!"

She looked at herself in the mirror, and heaved a miserable sigh.

"Oh who am I kidding, I can't even go one minute with him in the same room without picking on him! Sheesh, I'm like the annoying older sister who loves to pick on her little brother mercilessly!" Helga groaned, banging her fists on the sink counter tops. "Criminy...what am I going to do?! At this rate, it'll be the worst date ever! ...But that's the point, right? If it's so bad, he'll never want to go out again! ...But what am I doing, I can't waste an opportunity like this! I have a DATE with ARNOLD, my true LOVE! I have to make an effort somehow, don't I?"

She sighed again.

"Well...maybe there is a way. I did it once, as Cecile...maybe I can do it again, only this time, I'll be me. Plain old Helga Geraldine Pataki! Yeah...I can do this."

She looked at herself in the mirror.

"I can do this."


	4. A Nightmare on Vine Street

**A/N: Hey guys!/Hi-Low!**

**NintendoGal55: Here we are yet again, as the story intensifies...as well as Arnold and Helga's date!**

**SuprSingr: Oh YEAH! *Does the cabbage patch* We are updating so fast that it's giving you all WHIP-LASH! *Does the worm***

**The following is a "SuprNintendo Production" written by both NintendoGal55 and SuprSingr.**

**Disclaimer: For crying out loud, we are just writing the story! We own NOTHING!/What she said! *Points to NintendoGal***

* * *

**Arnold Loves Helga**

**Chapter 4**

"Well Arnold, looks like you dug your own grave, man." Gerald said sympathetically.

"I can't believe she did that! Now thanks to whoever wrote that message on the wall, I have to go on a date with Helga!" Arnold groaned.

It was after school that day, and Arnold and Gerald were walking to the boarding house together. Of course, it had been a long and tiring day full of merciless teasing based on the very subject Arnold now dreaded. Whoever had written the message on the wall was going to pay for it if they ever stepped up and admitted it. Once more he pushed the violent thoughts aside and focused on the dreaded fact that he had to go on his first real date, aside from back on Valentine's Day, with Helga of all people. This was not going to go well.

"It's a real shame, man." Gerald agreed, shaking his head. "Mmm mmm mmm. Well, looks like you got no choice. It's either that or Helga beats you to a pulp!"

"That actually sounds like a better idea." Arnold sighed. "I don't know what to do, Gerald, this is going to be the worst night of my life."

"Just go through with it, that's all you can do."

"I guess you're right, Gerald."

They finally reached the boarding house, where Arnold opened the door, with the barrage of animals coming out the door all led by Abner. The boys went inside and shut the door as Phil came to greet them.

"Well hey there, short man! How was school today?"

"Terrible, Grandpa." Arnold sighed miserably.

"My man Arnold here has a date tonight!" Gerald announced.

"Oh ho ho! Well I'll be darned! Who is she, Arnold? Is she cute?"

"Well...actually Grandpa, it was all a huge mistake and misunderstanding."

"Oooh, well now! Come into the living room and tell me all about it boys, Pookie made cookies!" Phil said, leading them to the living room. "So what happened, Arnold?"

"Well, someone wrote 'Arnold Loves Helga' in chalk on a wall, and everyone thought that I wrote it, including Helga. Everyone at school made fun of me about it all day, and I didn't do it! I tried explaining to Helga that I didn't do it, but she didn't believe me either."

"Helga, eh? The girl in the dress and pigtails and one eyebrow?"

"That's Helga _G._Pataki all right." Gerald said.

"Yeah, her. Then at lunch today, apparently everyone's been teasing her about it too, so she came to our table and said that I had one chance with her, and I have to take her out on a date tonight at seven, and I can't be late. What should I do, Grandpa? I don't want to go on a date with her, and I don't know what to do." Arnold looked pleadingly to his Grandfather.

"You can always skip town! Heck, you can leave right now! I'll get your bag packed." Phil stood up from his favourite chair.

"Grandpa!" Arnold cried. "This is serious!"

"Well Arnold, you can always call her up and try to explain everything." Phil told him, sitting back down.

"I guess I could do that." Arnold got up and went over to the phone.

* * *

"Ohhhhh! I have a DATE with ARNOLD!" Helga squealed as she jumped up and down on her bed excitedly.

The phone suddenly rang, and she plopped down onto the bed, picking it up. "Hello?"

"Hey Helga? It's Arnold."

"Arnold!" She cried out in shock, and then shook her head, and automatically set a scowl on her face. "I mean, what do YOU want, Football Head? You better not be getting cold feet or anything."

"Well, actually, Helga... I wanted to talk to you about our, um... date." He said awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck in discomfort.

Helga's eyes widened a bit, but then she smirked, already knowing what he was trying to do. "Oh, yes, yes. That's seven o'clock, Arnold. Be here or shed a tear, because this is the only chance you've got, Head boy." She was about to hang up, but heard him cry out.

"NO!"

She huffed, and put the phone back to her ear. "What?" She asked irritably.

"Helga, I don't-It's not-and this is all just-..." He took a deep breath to help regain his composure, before continuing, "Look, I think we should both just forget this whole da-"

"Ugh, I get that you're nervous, Hair Boy, but trust me, it'll be fine. Now stop wasting my time! I have to get ready. Be here at seven, and if you even THINK about backing out of this, I swear I'll pound that football head of yours FLAT!" And with that, she hung up the phone, quicker this time so he wouldn't be able to get a word in. She then laughed evilly, falling back onto her bed.

* * *

"NO!" The line then went dead, and Arnold gawked at the phone, before hanging it up, and breaking out in the most horrified expression imaginable.

Gerald walked over beside him. "Looks like your stuck, man. Tough break."

_"...I have a date with Helga._.." Arnold moaned.

"Listen man, you can still get outta this! I can get my man Fuzzy Slippers to dig up some things and then you can-"

"No, Gerald. That'll only make it worse." Arnold cut him off, shaking his head. "Well, it's just one date...right? It's not like she's trying to get me to marry her."

"Marry?!!?" Gerald exclaimed, his eyes wide, before he burst into laughter. "You and Helga?! Oh MAN!"

"Gerald!" Arnold cried. "It's not funny!"

"No, you're right, it's _hilarious!_ I mean, you and Helga...we're NINE!" Gerald laughed, holding his stomach. He laughed it out a couple of seconds and then took a deep breath. "Okay, okay, no more teasing. Seriously man, we gotta get you ready and going, you got 3 hours before you gotta go pick her up. And listen man, here's what you gotta do. Take her out somewhere to eat, then go see a movie. And that's ALL you gotta do."

Arnold looked at his best friend with a thoughtful look. "Really? That's all?"

"Man, never doubt the master. Dinner and a movie, most basic and traditional date, ain't no two ways about it." Gerald said, leading Arnold upstairs to his room. "Trust me man, keep it cool and simple, and you may just get outta this alive. I'd follow after you to make sure you're okay, but um...'fraid that Phoebe's got tickets to Dino Land and she invited me along...heh heh heh..."

"Wait, what?" Arnold stopped in his tracks. "You have a date with Phoebe? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Come on Arnold, you were hung up and scared about this date!" Gerald told him. "Besides, it's not a date! We're just two buddies chilling at Dino Land!" But the blush that came to his dark cheeks were betraying his claim.

Despite the situation, Arnold smiled. "Well, still, that's great, Gerald. I know how much you like doing things with _Phoebe_."

"It's not a date!" Gerald protested, still blushing. "We're just two buddies goin' out!"

Arnold laughed heartily as they made it to his room, but of course reality set in and he realized what was to come. He sighed and shut his bedroom door. This was going to be a long evening.

* * *

Later on, at the Pataki household, it was 6:15 and Helga was just getting ready for the date.

"Okay, so Pheebs is gonna keep Gerald busy at Dino Land...so no one's gonna interfere with this date!" Helga said to herself as she applied some eyeshadow on. "I'll win Arnold over with my utmost pretty get-up, and make sure this date goes just swimmingly!"

She already had her outfit picked out, which was laying on her bed. It was a dark blue, knee-length spaghetti strap dress that went to her knees, and had light sparkle sequins along it, and was silkily soft and smooth. It had a pink sash tied around the waist, and had matching dark blue ballet flats. For her makeup, she had applied wink (pink-white) eyeshadow, some mascara, and pinky-red lipstick to accentuate her lips, and even a tint of blush on her cheeks. For her hair, she smoothed and brushed it out, letting it free from its pigtails, and was going to wear it down tonight, along with her bow set on top of her head, as usual.

Helga was doing everything in her power to make herself look beautiful. It had worked when she was disguised as Cecile, didn't it? Surprisingly, she'd been able to turn heads! Who's to say she couldn't do it again?

"Oh yes, I'm so going to knock him out when he sees me..."

* * *

Arnold looked at himself in the mirror miserably.

He was wearing a simple dark blue jacket over a white button up shirt, and some simple dark black jeans, along with his usual black sneakers. Gerald had picked it out for him before he left, telling him that it was a date worthy outfit. He supposed that he looked pretty good, but he really didn't care all that much. What did he care if he looked good or not for HELGA.

He straightened up his hair a little, and smoothed some wrinkles out of his jacket. Eh, it was his first ever date with a girl, even if it was Helga, it couldn't hurt to look clean.

He took one last look in the mirror, and placed his little blue hat atop his oblong head, setting it straight, and then smiling a little in the mirror. He couldn't help it, he thought he looked pretty good. Helga would be shocked... no way she could make any comments about him looking bad tonight. At least that was a plus.

"Knock, knock, Shortman." His grandpa sounded from outside the door.

Arnold turned around to face the door. "Come in!"

The door opened, revealing the old man, who smiled at him widely and whistled. "Wow! Now don't you look snazzy!"

Arnold simply nodded. "Thanks, Grandpa." He said quietly.

Phil sensed his dismay, and frowned a little. "Is this about how this date is with... Helen?"

"Helga."

"Right, Helga."

Arnold sighed, and sat down on his couch. "I just really don't want to have to go through with this. Helga's my bully... she's always shooting spitballs at me, calling me names, and just being really mean. I don't want to be her date."

Grandpa smiled a little secret smile right then, and sat down on the couch next to him, closing the door. "So this little girl picks on you a lot?"

Arnold looked at him curiously, and nodded. "Yeah. Which is why I don't want to go out with her. It's not fair."

Grandpa continued to smile at that, but luckily Arnold didn't notice as he was looking away now.

"Why would she want to go on a date with me anyway? She hates me!" Arnold continued, feeling frustrated. "She said that I only have one chance with her. But I don't want a chance with her! All she ever does is pick on me!" He groaned.

Phil forced down a snicker, and offered a small smile of support. "Hey now, I'm sure things won't be so bad. Who knows? She might surprise ya."

Before Arnold could ask what he meant by that, Phil stood, and patted him on the shoulder, before walking out the door, but not before telling him, still with a secret smile. "You better hurry, Shortman. It's already 6:50, and you don't wanna be late!"

"WHAT?!" Arnold yelled, jumping up from the couch. "Oh no! I'm going to be late! Helga is going to kill me!" He yelled in a panic, before rushing out the door of his room, down the stairs, and out the door as he yelled to his grandma who was in the kitchen, and Grandpa who was grinning at him from the stairs, "I'll be back later! Bye!"

Racing against time, Arnold had run most of not all the way to Helga's house in a panic. Being late was the last thing he wanted to do, for fearing Old Betsy and the Five Avengers pummeling him into next week. He had to make it, he just had to, for the sake of this to go well and get it over with, as well as avoiding being killed. So he ran, ran, ran, walked, ran, ran, walked, and ran, all the way to Helga's place.

Finally, upon reaching the front stoop of her house, he stopped to catch his breath and checked the time on his Grandfather's pocket watch. 6:58. He just made it with two minutes to spare. Thank goodness! That was a good sign.

Still, he wondered what his Grandfather meant when he said Helga might surprise him. Weird.

Arnold took another breath and marched up the steps, ringing the doorbell, and waiting patiently. A few moments passed and the door opened, revealing Miriam, who looked half out of it.

"Mm? Yes...can I...help you?" She asked tiredly.

"Um...I'm here to pick up Helga. My name's Arnold, we have a...date tonight." Arnold said politely, though he was wondering why she seemed so out of it.

"Uh...? Oh...oh...right...yes...Helga..." Miriam murmured and nodded, going back into the house.

"Who is it, Miriam? It better be good!" Came Big Bob Pataki's voice from the living room.

"Oh, Helga's boyfriend...or something...yeah..." Miriam responded.

"Oh...right, that kid, Alfred." Big Bob lumbered into the foyer and called upstairs. "Olga! Get yourself down here, that boy Alfred is here to pick you up!"

Arnold frowned slightly in confusion. Why was her father addressing her by her older sister's name?

"It's Helga, Dad!" Helga called indignantly from upstairs. "I'm coming, I'm coming! Sheesh! Hold your horses!"

Footsteps were heard as Arnold waited nervously, and then looked up at the top of the stairs and felt his eyes widen and his jaw drop as Helga came downstairs.

She looked so _beautiful._ He couldn't believe it. Her hair was down, in a light wave, cascading down her shoulders and her back, with her pink bow resting on top of her head. She wore light but noticeable makeup, including light but not too dark lipstick on her pouty lips. Her dress looked amazing, and especially accentuated her blue eyes, her bow matched the pink sash around her waist really well, and the shoes matched the dress too. The colours were really pretty together, and set off by her blonde hair.

Arnold stared, mouth slack and eyes wide, even when Helga made it down the stairs. He couldn't take his eyes off her, and couldn't believe she could actually look so beautiful. If she wore makeup and let her hair down like this more often, she'd be turning heads!

His surprise wasn't lost on Helga, who smirked at him as she waved dismissively to her parents and went outside, shutting the door behind her.

"Yes, I know I look good, football head, but close your mouth! A fly might fly into it." She told him.

All the while, she admired him as well. He always looked handsome and cute in formal wear, and tonight was no different. She admired him from head to toe, though seeming to be as if she was merely looking at him.

"S-Sorry..." Arnold apologized. "Um...you look...you look really nice."

Helga blushed, and was about to comment and say that she didn't care about what he thought of her, but she bit her tongue before it could fly from her lips, and simply smiled a little at him. "Yeah, thanks. You don't look half-bad yourself, Footb-... I mean, Arnold." She blushed a little more, and then walked down the steps of her stoop to the sidewalk. She stopped at the bottom, and it was then that she realized he wasn't following.

She turned her head curiously to him, and raised one side of her eyebrow.

He was standing there, looking at her very strangely.

She blinked at him. "What?"

He opened his mouth, like he was about to say something, but then closed it and shook his head. "Nothing... um, thanks." He walked down the steps of the house finally, and stood by her side.

She blinked at him, but shrugged it off. "Yeah, okay, fine. You don't wanna tell me, I won't make ya. So where to first?" She finished casually, crossing her arms over her chest and staring at him through lowered eyelashes.

He blinked a couple times at her, and then answered slowly. "Um, I thought we'd have dinner first, and then catch a movie. The reservations are at Chez Paris." He explained.

She hid a smile behind her neutral look. "Yeah, okay, Arnold. Let's go." She began walking down the sidewalk in the direction of the restaurant, as Arnold fell into step beside her.

Arnold stared at her in perplexity as they walked. She was being awfully... okay. Huh...

Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.


	5. A Dream in Disguise

**A/N: Allo, puny Earthlings!/Greetings, foolish mortals!**

**SuprSingr: The first part of the... DATE!!! Dun, dun, dun! XD**

**NintendoGal55: Watch as the forbidden fruit is finally tasted! :D**

**The following is a "SuprNintendo Production" written by both SuprSingr and NintendoGal55.**

**Disclaimer: One of us very well COULD be Craig Bartlett... but unfortunately, we're not./I know I'm not Craig, because we were the ones writing this story!**

* * *

**Arnold Loves Helga**

**Chapter 5**

The two of them walked in silence toward the outskirts of the city where the two major French restaurants, Chez Paris and Chez Pierre, were located. It wasn't exactly an awkward silence, though Arnold sure did feel a bit awkward at the moment. Not just because he couldn't think of anything to say, in fear of setting off the "Helga Bomb", but also because he just couldn't stop looking at her.

It was hard to imagine that Helga could actually pull off looking really, really pretty. Sure, she certainly wasn't the ugliest girl, she was fairly attractive in her own way, and didn't seem to care what others thought of her, she just looked the way she felt comfortable. Despite everything, he couldn't help but...admire her a bit for that. It was just shocking to see her looking beautiful for a change. _Really_ beautiful.

Arnold shook his head at such thoughts and tried to focus on the road ahead. So she was beautiful, what was the big deal? Being beautiful didn't automatically mean you were nice. Easy on the eyes or not, you couldn't change who you were on the inside just because you happened to change yourself on the outside.

Then again, things weren't going so bad at all.

"Sheesh, hair boy, if I knew you were going to be so quiet, I would have gone out on a date with one of my stuffed animals!" Helga suddenly said, breaking his train of thought. Despite her admonishing tone, there was a tint of playfulness in her voice.

Arnold blinked his eyes and looked up at her, seeing her superior smirk. He shook his head and looked away again, knowing that he wouldn't be able to if he kept staring at her. "Sorry Helga, if you want I can call your stuffed Giraffe and see if he'd like to take you up on your offer."

His eyes widened and he covered his mouth as he realized what he'd just said. Why did he do that? Why did he make a playful remark? She'd just take it the wrong way and call him stupid! Oh, why did he say _that?_

Instead of a remark of "What the heck, football head? I was just kidding!" or something along those lines, Helga giggled lightly behind her hand.

Giggled?!

"Nah, call my stuffed bear, he's been eyeing me for weeks. I think he'll appreciate it more." Helga said, smirking, though her tone was a bit more playful than before.

Arnold's mouth fell open instantly, and he stared at her. "W-What?"

Helga looked over at him, and smirked. She made her hand into a fist, and knocked lightly on his head. "Hello? Anybody out there? These are the jokes, people."

Arnold's eyes widened at this, and he couldn't help but laugh a little. But as soon as the sound left his lips he quickly forced it down, and looked away. "Yeah..."

Helga sighed softly, and looked away also as she spoke. "You don't have to be so nervous like this, Arnold. Not that it's not entertaining, but I really am considering possibly calling up my teddy bear to take me out instead." She looked over at him, hoping to get some kind of response.

His lips curled into a smile, and this time he didn't force it down. "Sorry, it's just..." His smile dropped, "...weird." He sighed, finally meeting her eyes.

She blinked, and then looked down, sighing. "Yeah, okay."

Arnold stared at her, as she seemed almost... sad. He didn't like making people sad, but this was Helga... he didn't think he even had the ability to make her sad. She was usually someone who didn't let people get her down... he thought. Still, he'd done something wrong, and he had to fix it... even if it was _Helga._

"Is something wrong?" He asked in genuine concern, and he almost placed a hand on her shoulder, but he quickly withdrew his hand before it could make contact with her shoulder.

She looked over at him, her expression blank. "I..." She looked ahead of them then, and a smile actually came to her lips. "Looks like we're here."

Arnold looked in front of them to see the restaurant, then looked back up at Helga's smiling face. Well, she was smiling again, so maybe it didn't matter.

Stage one: Have dinner. That's all. They'd eat, and leave, and that would be it.

He opened the door, and out of pure instinct, he let Helga go in first, before he walked inside.

He went up the man at the podium, who looked down at them both with cool disdain.

"Hello, we have a reservation here under the name-"

A customer's startled cry was heard at a nearby table.

"Of course, right this way." Said the host, and led them to, ironically, the same table where they were here the first time, back on Valentine's Day.

The realization of that was not lost on either of them, but they kept it to themselves. Arnold went over to the chair Helga was about to seat herself in and pulled it out for her. Hey, he was a gentleman, and chivalry was a must on a date, no matter who it was with.

"Oh....um, thanks." Helga murmured, and sat down.

"You're welcome." Arnold pushed her chair in and then took a seat in the chair across from her. He tensed for a moment, and then decided to distract himself by reading the menu. Unfortunately for him, it was all in French. He stole a quick glance at Helga as she too was reading her menu with a thoughtful yet confused frown on her face.

There was something about her then, that seemed so familiar. But he couldn't quite place his finger on it. Something about the fact she had her hair down, which actually enhanced her pretty getup, and her eyes. Why did she suddenly strike a memory in him, as if he'd seen this somewhere before?

"-football head?" He suddenly heard her question.

Arnold blinked and shook his head, lowering his menu. "Um...what?"

Helga rolled her eyes and repeated herself. "I said, what are you going to have, football head? Sheesh, I knew you were always a dreamer with your head in the clouds, but I didn't think it was THAT much."

An embarrassed blush crossed his face. "S-Sorry Helga. I guess....the menu is pretty hard to read, that's all. I can't read in French."

"Fancy so-called Frenchies think they're soooo cool, making their menus French so the customers don't know what they're eating. For all I know, I could probably end up ordering calf brains and eggs!" Helga remarked. Her eyes widened upon realizing what she'd said and hid her face behind her menu. _Criminy! Why did I say that?!_ She thought.

_Didn't Cecile order that last time...? _Arnold thought, not quite making the connection. "Oh, um...well, I guess we can always ask the waiter to translate for us if we have to."

"Uh...yeah, yeah, we can." Helga said quickly, glad for the change in subject.

The two of them exchanged glances then, before Arnold blushed and broke it off, looking away. Helga noticed this and raised one side of her eyebrow, but then shrugged it off, figuring it was nothing.

Arnold turned in his seat, and waved one of his arms in the air to try and attract attention. "Um, excuse me... waiter guy!"

Helga rolled her eyes, and then stood from her seat casually. "Allow me, Arnold."

Arnold turned his head to her and blinked in slight bewilderment.

She smoothed out her dress, and then just casually walked away, the dress swishing back and forth as she went.

"Helga, where are you going?"

She didn't answer, just continued walking.

Arnold sighed, and turned back around in his seat, resting his oblong head in his hand. Suddenly he heard a yelp, "Jock Mei Bleu!" He turned in his seat quickly, to see Helga pulling their French waiter over to their table by his bow tie. She plopped down in her seat, and finally released him then.

He straightened himself up quickly, and dusted off his arms, all while giving Helga a very frightened look.

Arnold stared at the man wide-eyed, and then looked over at Helga, who was just casually flipping through her menu then. She sensed his eyes on her, and looked up. Their eyes met, and they held it for a few moments, before Arnold broke it off and looked back to the waiter.

Helga looked at the man too, and then sat her menu in front of him on the table. "Alright, pal, what the heck is all this?"

The waiter looked down at the menu, and pointed to a certain French dish written out in French. "Poulet Frites... it is chicken and fries... I'm sure that that is something up your... alley, as you say."

Helga pursed her lips together briefly, and then spoke, "I had chicken yesterday. What else ya got?"

The man sighed, and then pointed to another dish. "Steak Frites. It is-"

"Yeah, yeah, steak and fries. Sounds good." She then took her menu back and clapped it shut, handing it to the waiter.

He took it, and placed it under his arm, then turned to Arnold. "And for you...?"

Arnold looked at his menu, and smiled a little, pointing to one of the dishes on the menu and looking up at the waiter. "This sounds good. What is that?"

The waiter bent down slightly to see what he was pointing to, and then smiled a little. "Ah, Foie de veau. Excellent choice. It is calf's liver."

Arnold's face suddenly turned green, and then he shook his head, handing the man his menu and laughing nervously. "Um, I think I'll just have what she's having."

The waiter's smile faded, and he sighed, taking his menu. "Very well, sir." And with that, he walked off.

Arnold then turned his attention to Helga, who was just staring at him with a small smile.

He blushed a little. "Do I even want to know what you did to get him out here?"

Helga laughed a little, and not a cruel one either. A genuine laugh that rang out throughout the restaurant. Arnold couldn't help but smile at the sound of it. Finally, she stopped, and shook her head. "No, I don't think you'd want to know." She laid back a little in her seat, and gave him an amused expression.

He smiled at her, but then quickly wiped off his slowly forming grin and looked away. What was going on? Was he actually... having fun? And with... HELGA?!

"So football head, you like video games?" Helga suddenly said, sitting back straight in her seat, propping her elbows on the table, her head on her hands.

"Video games?" Arnold was a little puzzled as to why she was asking such a random question, but shrugged it off. "Yeah, I do. I don't play very often, but they're fun."

"Figured as much. Got any good consoles?"

"I have my dad's old Atari 2600, Sega Genesis, and the NES, I think."

"Whoa, you gotta get with the times, hair boy! The oldest console I have the Super Nintendo and okay, maybe I've got a Pong console too. But for the record, I bet I could kick your butt at any given fighting or racing games." Her eyes twinkled mischievously.

"I don't know, we've never really played video games together." Arnold shrugged. "It's hard to say which one of us would win at those games."

"Well for once, you're right." Helga shook off his annoyed look. "Fine then. Perhaps maybe it's time we arose from the shadows and tested our skills. Mm...they have a Street Fighter arcade console at the arcade. Maybe next time we run into each other at the arcade, we can give it a shot, see who wins." She leaned across the table toward him, smirking.

"You're on." Arnold said, and found himself smile. "I accept your challenge."

"Good to know. Although you should surrender when you have the chance, I sure as heck won't throw away the opportunity of a good challenge." Helga leaned back in her seat again. "So, if you've got the NES, do you have the gun?"

"The gun?"

"You know, the Zapper. The NES gun? You play Duck Hunt and some other shooting games with it."

"Oh! Yeah, I think I do."

"I'm a crack shot with that thing. But oh, a word of warning, do not play the Friday The 13th or A Nightmare On Elm Street games." Helga made a thumbs down. "Pheebs and I rented them once, since she has all the Nintendo Consoles up to now, and we tried them out. Both of them stink!"

Arnold laughed a little. "Okay Helga, I'll take your word for it. Why were they so bad?"

"You really want to know? Well for starters, in the the Friday The 13th game, the control is stiff, you throw rocks as your main weapon which hardly ever hit the zombies, all of the pathways of the camp look the same and sometimes you don't know where you're supposed to go. You collect lighters and weapons, but oh, when you go inside the cabins, they're horrible! The movement is slow, everything looks the same, it takes forever to move around in them! The music sucks, too, it makes you want to mute the TV, but you can't do that because you have to listen for the Jason alarm! And oh, the map screen is terrible! Okay, so you open it up, and the blinking cabin is where Jason is, so you have to go to that cabin, but the worst part is, you go in the exact opposite direction indicated on the map. Say you're trying to go to the right, so naturally in the game, you go right. But no! That doesn't work because it'll show that you're going left on the map screen! How stupid is that?! And don't even get me started on Jason's design. Ugh! I've seen better graphical designs on the Sega Master System!"

"That bad?" Arnold cringed, already not liking the sound of it.

"Better believe it, football head." Helga said. "What games do you have, anyway? If you don't have the Zelda or the Mario games, you're an official disgrace."

"I think I do have them, if I remember correctly."

"Well, then maybe you're not so bad after all."

The waiter then came back with their food. "Your orders, sir and madame."

He sat their plates of food in front of them, along with two glasses of water, and then walked away without another word.

Helga grinned, and began cutting into her steak immediately. "Geez, I can't remember the last time I had an actual meal."

Arnold blinked at her, holding up one of his fries. "What do you mean?" He asked, eating the fry and beginning to unwrap his silverware.

She stopped in mid-chew, and looked up at him with wide eyes. "Uh... nothing." She swallowed quick, and leaned back in her chair a little, looking away nervously.

Arnold could easily sense that there was something she wasn't telling him... but he wasn't too sure if he wanted to know or not. He began cutting into his steak, but then stopped, and sighed. He let his fork and knife fall gracelessly onto his plate, and looked over at Helga. "Helga, if you ever want to talk..."

"I'm fine, Hair boy." She said firmly, and then began eating again as if nothing had happened. "So," She began, changing the subject, "got any pets?"

He chewed on one of his fries, looking over at her with slightly nervous eyes. "Um, yeah, I've got a pet."

"Really?" She asked, her mouth full of steak. She realized how gross she must look, and quickly swallowed._ 'Come on, Helga ol' girl. Stay focused. This is your only chance, so stop acting like a **pig** in front of him!'_ She smiled at him a little, and picked up one of her fries. "What kind of pet?"

He looked away nervously, and bit his bottom lip for a second. "He's a... a pig."

"Oh, I'm sure he's not that bad. Seriously, what kind of pet do you have?"

"No," He looked over at her. "my pet is a pig."

She looked up at him, blushing. "Oh! Sorry," She laughed nervously. "I get it. That's cool."

His eyes widened a little, and he blinked. "You don't think that's gross?"

"Why would I?" She asked with one side of her eyebrow extended up.

"Well, most girls I tell that to, always tell me that it's gross." He explained, his eyes narrowed in confusion.

She rolled her eyes, and then looked back at him blankly. "Most girls are prisses, Arnoldo."

He blinked at her, and she simply smiled a little, and after a moment, he found himself actually smiling back.

"So what's the piggie's name?"

"Abner. He's a boy." At her confused look, he shrugged. "I'm not sure where he got his name either. I like it though, it suits him. He's pretty cute, and when you pull on his curly tail it goes _spoing_! Do you have pets?"

"Me? Nah, no way. Although I wouldn't mind having a cat, or even a dog. But given how Bob and Miriam...." Helga began and then cut herself off. "Never mind. Point is, think it'll be a while before I get myself a pet."

Arnold looked puzzled, wondering what she was about to say, and was once more wondering why she seemed so evasive when it came to topics relating to her home life. He wanted to ask her, feeling the usual concern of "Oh no, someone's having a problem, I want to help!". Only, it felt different this time. Still, he decided against it for now. Maybe when she was ready, he'd listen then.

"Oh, okay. Um...Helga?"

"Mmm?" She looked at him, her mouth full of food.

"Um...you know, I just wanted to say I'm sorry about this whole thing." Arnold admitted, looking down at his plate. "I'm sorry you felt obligated to have to go on a date with me. Whoever wrote that message on the wall was-"

"Hey, cool it, football head." Helga said as she swallowed her bite and held up her free hand. "For the record, this isn't TOO bad, you know."  
Arnold looked at her with surprise. "It's not?"

"Don't push it. But no, it's not." Helga went back to eating her food.

"Um....okay, well, I'm not having such a bad time either." Arnold admitted. It was strange to think that, or even admit it, but he was actually having a good time. Not the BEST time, but certainly not the worst time.

It was not going as he imagined it at all. In fact, it was going substantially better than he'd ever expected.

Helga swallowed her bite and felt herself inwardly swoon. At least Arnold didn't think of this as a nightmare anymore. That was a relief. Maybe she could kick it up a notch...

"Okay, okay, I'll concede. I'm actually having a good time." She forced herself to say, and looked away, blushing a bit. "I-I guess this wasn't such a bad idea after all."

Her admittance surprised Arnold as he snapped his gaze back to her. She was trying to be sincere, he could see that. It was surprising how things were turning out, especially Helga admitting that she was having a good time, albeit with difficulty. She really wasn't so bad at all.  
It was strange, how just some hours ago, he was dreading this entire evening. Now that it was happening like it was, he wasn't scared nor dreading it anymore. In fact, he was more curious as to what would happen next over the course of the date.

Arnold managed a small smile at this. "Well, I'm glad to hear that. I was pretty sure this was a nightmare for you, but I'm glad you're having a good time. To be honest, it's nice that we can just sit and talk like...like...well, friends, I guess." He realized what he'd said and looked away. "I mean-! S-Sorry, I didn't mean to..."

Helga gave an amused smirk, raising one side of her eyebrow. "Gee, I never took you for the nervous type, Arnoldo."

He snapped his eyes to hers. "I, um..."

She chuckled a little. "I always considered us friends, Football Head."

His eyes widened, and he gawked at her a little. "You did?"

She looked back at him, now a little nervous after realizing exactly what she'd said. "Well, y-yeah. I mean, sure I don't exactly LIKE you, but that doesn't mean I DON'T like you."

He raised an eyebrow at her. "But I thought you hated me. You're always saying that you do."

She sighed lightly, and looked away. "I say a lot of things, Arnold." She informed him quietly, still looking away with half-lidded eyes.

He stared at her, as the candle light flickered and danced across her features. She really did look awfully pretty... His eyes widened at the thought, and he blushed, now looking away. "O-Okay... I, um... consider you a friend too."

She smiled a little, but still didn't meet his gaze. "Good to know."

He nodded, still blushing a little.

She looked back to him, and tucked a strand of hair out of her face and behind her ear. "Anyway, what kind of music do you listen to?" She asked pleasantly, now cutting back into her steak.

He took a sip of his water to try and relieve his obvious blush, and answered her in a slightly choked voice, "Jazz," He cleared his throat, and sat his water back down. "I listen to a lot of jazz."

She nodded, and smiled a little. "Wow. I don't know of too many people who actually listen to that."

He narrowed his eyes at her a little, feeling slightly offended. "What does that mean?"

She looked up at him, surprised by his tone. "Exactly what I said. I don't know too many people who listen to that. It's cool. I've listened to it before. It's relaxing."

He softened and nodded a little, and started eating his own steak again. "Yeah, it is. So what kind of music do you listen to?"

She snickered a little, and he looked over at her curiously. She met his eyes, and smirked. "I listen to rock, along with some metal bands." She snickered again.

He blinked at her, not sure what to make of that. "Really?"

She nodded. "Yup. It's not the ONLY music I like, but that's mainly what I find myself listening to. I'm pretty flexible when it comes to music. I've listened to jazz, rock, pop, classical... you get it." She smiled at him, and took a bite of her steak.

He smiled a little at her, and swallowed one of his fries. "Yeah. I don't just listen to jazz, but it's by far my favorite type of music. I've never so much listened to metal or rock... well, I've listened to rock before, I'll admit. But I'm more into easy listening stuff." He took a bite of his steak.

She smiled at him, and nodded. "Yeah, that sounds like you."

He laughed a little. "Yeah, and metal and rock sounds an awful lot like you."

She blinked at him, and ceased her actions of cutting her steak as she let her fork fall. "What do you mean?" She asked, not sure what to think of his comment.

He shrugged, focusing his attention on cutting into his steak. "I don't know... you just seem so hard core most of the time. Waving your fists around constantly. It seems like the type of music you'd listen to." His eyes widened at what he'd just said, and he froze. He was getting a little too comfortable here, if he wanted to get out of this date without losing any limbs then he'd better keep stuff like that to himself. He cleared his throat, and coughed a little. "Never mind."

She rolled her eyes at him, and actually threw one of her fries at him. "Shut up. You cannot just excuse the fact that you just called me a blow hard."

"What? I didn't call you a-"

"You listed off the characteristics of one, though." She raised one side of her unibrow at him, and crossed her arms over her chest. "I'll have you know right now that I am not a blow hard." She stated indignantly, her nose held high.

He picked the frech fry out of his hair and set it on the table. "I'm sorry, Helga. I didn't mean to-"

"Yeah, yeah. Everyone thinks all I am is a pair of fists and a scowl." She stated a bit angrily, with a small note of sadness in there.

Arnold frowned. "You're not just a pair of fists and a scowl."

She scoffed, looking him straight in the eye now. "Try telling them that."

"Helga." His voice was firm, but gentle, his eyes meeting hers as well. "I know you present yourself in a certain way that makes it hard to overlook, but I know that deep down, you're more than just the schoolyard bully who scowls all the time and waves her fists around all the time. You're a good person, Helga, and you know how to be strong and yet soft at the same time, it's just hard for you to show the nicer side of you, I can tell. But, being nice and kind doesn't automatically mean you have to be a throw pillow. It shouldn't matter what other people think, because what really matters is what you think. You shouldn't have to be afraid to be yourself, whether you want to be really nice or really aggressive."  
Just as always, he was right on the money about her. Deny it as she may, he knew her a little more than she'd given him credit for. Helga was speechless, her aggression now melting into awe and surprise, unsure of what to make of this. She watched as he then reached across the table and placed his hand over hers, her eyes widening as she looked down at their hands.

What to do now? The tides were shifting, and if she wasn't careful, things would go ten times worse. And she didn't want that. Her bullying ego was forcing its way into her mind, telling her to go with the "right" (as if) instinct and just force her beloved away and either run off or just stay angry. Yes, she could do that, she had a reputation to uphold anyway. No way she could let this bring her down. Date or not, she was Helga, and Helga was nasty, mean, insensitive, and brash.

_No, there's more to me than that! He's right. I'm a walking oxymoron! I'm rough AND soft. I'm gentle AND forceful. I'm nice AND mean. I'm sweet AND sour. I'm meek AND aggressive. Arnold my love, you truly do see past my shields...you see the real me inside. Oh, but why can't I show it?_ Helga thought, visibly tensing.

She had it in her mind, the conflict of either to just accept what he said or revert to how she usually would react.

Oh yes, she would do that, and solve this in her own fashion.

That was not what happened.

"Arnold...I...." Helga gazed at him, her expression soft and sad. "The truth is, I really..."

"Can I get you anything else tonight?" Came their waiter as he came to their table and picked up their dishes. "Some dessert, a refill of your drinks?"

Arnold blinked as he was brought back to reality, withdrawing his hand and looked from their waiter to Helga, unsure of what to do next. "Um...do you want dessert, Helga?"

"Sure." Helga said nonchalantly. "Bring us some chocolate mousse cake, and make it snappy, Frenchie."

"Er, yes, right away, madame." Said the waiter, who Arnold now glanced at his nametag and saw that his name was Raphael, and he walked away.

The two of them sat in silence, unsure of what to do or say next, considering what had been going on just moments ago. They didn't know where to look, especially at each other.

"Helga...I'm sorry about that, I really didn't mean to put you on the spot or make you feel uncomfortable. I get a little carried away when I try to help others and-"

"Arnold, don't." Helga cut him off. "You wouldn't be you if you didn't try your best to help someone. I know what you were trying to do, and I guess I can't hold that against you. But...listen, just, back off, okay? Unless I ask you to, shut up about me."

Dejected, he nodded and managed to call in his understanding and patience. "All right, Helga. I understand. I'll keep it to myself until you're ready."

"Good." Helga relaxed a little more and looked at him. "Quit looking at me like that, we're still friends, football head. Relax."

A soft blush marred his cheeks and he rubbed the back of his neck. "Y-Yeah, whatever you say, Helga."

"Darn straight." She smirked playfully, wiggling her brow mischievously.

Despite everything, Arnold couldn't help but smile at her then. Maybe things really would get better and better after all.

Helga grinned at him. "Anyway, anything YOU'D like to know about me? It seems like I'm the only one asking the questions here."

Arnold put on a pensive face for a moment, and then focused his eyes back on her. "Well, I've always wondered why you wear that pink bow." He gestured to her bow.

Her hand went to touch the soft, silkiness of her bow unconsciously, as she looked at him with bright eyes. "Simply because it holds sentimental value. I can't picture myself without my bow... it's like a part of me." She explained a bit thoughtfully, stroking one end of her bow before lowering her hand and sitting it in her lap.

Arnold stared at her, and then blinked. "I know what you mean." He lowered his eyes to the table.

She tilted her head at him. "You mean your hat?"

He nodded, and then looked back up at her. "Yeah, it has... sentimental value too." He ended quietly.

She offered a smile and sat one of her elbows up on the table, then sat her head on her balled up fist, looking over at him. "Guess we've got something in common then."

"Guess so." He smiled a little back.

"Will wonders never cease." She snickered, looking over at him with wide blue eyes. She fluttered her eyelashes at him in an attempt to flirt, but he didn't seem to notice as he was just sitting there smiling at her obliviously. She sighed mentally. _'So cute, so sweet... but so dense.'_ She thought, as her smile faltered a little.

"Two mousses for the happy couple." Raphael suddenly came and sat a plate of cake in front of both of them. "Enjoy." He left them.

They both blushed at his comment of them being a 'happy couple', but both decided not to mention it out of embarrassment.

Helga cut into her cake, and took a bite of it, humming in appreciation.

Arnold chuckled at the sight, as she seemed to be in pure bliss. He couldn't help but find it kind of... cute.

His eyes widened at that, and he blushed a little, looking away.

She saw his blush, and smiled, thinking of how adorable he was. She let out a mental lovesick sigh.

Arnold heard her sigh and looked to her curiously, and Helga's eyes widened in the realization that she'd actually done that out loud. Arnold didn't seem to notice though, because as soon as he looked at her he noticed a little bit of chocolate on the corner of her mouth that captured his interest.

Out of pure instinct, he took his napkin and reached across the table to wipe away the small splur of mousse.

Helga's eyes widened even more at this, and Arnold's eyes widened too and his actions froze as soon as he realized exactly what he was doing. He quickly withdrew his hand from her face, feeling an even deeper blush crawl up his neck. "S-Sorry..."

She laughed a little nervously, and then bit her lip for a moment. "Y-Yeah, it's okay..."

They went back to eating their slices of cake, while Arnold thought of what to say to break the light tension around them then. "Um, so...what's your favourite colour?"

"Pink." Helga said automatically. "But I guess it's a bit of a tie between pink, purple and blue. You?"

"Blue." Arnold said. "Oh, um, I once overheard you saying you were watching Wrestlemania to Phoebe one time. You like it?"  
"You bet! It's so boss. You watch it?"

"Sometimes. It's all right and interesting to watch, but I guess I'm not into violence. Unless it's in self-defense, I guess."

"You're too darn nice, Arnoldo." Helga playfully admonished.

Arnold smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. "I-I guess so..."

Maybe it was time to kick it up a notch... Oh yes, Helga had a great idea.

"Do me a favour, Arnold." She said, looking at him then.

"A favour?" Arnold looked puzzled. "Well, what is it?"

"...Don't ever change." Was all she said before she went back to eating her cake, blushing a little bit.

Arnold blinked, looking at her in utmost confusion and amazement, unable to comprehend that Helga of all people would say such a thing. And yet, she'd been full of surprises all evening so far. Yes, she'd had her moments of reverting back to "Bully Helga", but for the most part, she wasn't as bad as he'd imagined her to be on this date. In fact, she almost seemed to be enjoying it.

Wait, enjoying it? Could she really be enjoying it, or was she just finding it in herself to humour him, still under the impression that he loved her? He couldn't tell, but she was pretty sincere, especially now. She was so different. Yes, she was still Helga, but it was as if she was exposing a whole new side to her that he only saw on a rare occasion. Here she was, glammed up and looking really pretty, which he still found so surprising that she was actually very pretty when she put effort into it. Heck, she was almost prettier than Ruth McDougal!

Not to mention she was ten times more interesting than her, too.

Wait, interesting?

Interesting. He had to admit, she WAS pretty interesting, and he found himself having a much better time with her than he'd ever expected. In response to her little favour, Arnold smiled and patted her free hand across the table. "Okay, Helga. I won't." He did feel flattered that she found his personality and mannerisms something to value.

She blushed and smiled at him, her eyes meeting his for a moment. His hand lingered as he looked back at her, taking in her appearance, illuminated by the candlelight, which softened her features. Her soft blonde hair fell down her back and shoulders, framing her softened face, her big blue eyes were full of...affection and adoration, and were directed all at him. Soft, romantic music was being played on a violin in the background, adding to the moment between them.

Arnold could barely think then. He was awestruck, caught in the moment of realizing just how soft and beautiful she looked, especially with those big blue eyes of hers looking at him, not an ounce of hatred evident. His eyes fell onto her pouty, pinky red lips, and then back to her eyes. His hand gently tightened on hers, and she responded. He wasn't sure what was coming over him, but he had a sudden urge to get closer to her, leaning across the table toward her. Helga leaned over too, her eyes never leaving his, their hands still joined together, as they came closer and closer to each other. Their lips were just an inch away, just moments from meeting...

"Your bill, sir and madame." Raphael cut in, causing the two to jump apart as if they'd been struck by lightning, placing the bill folder on the table between them. "Have a nice evening, come again." He bowed respectfully before he walked off.

Shaking off the embarrassment, Arnold blinked himself back to reality and reached out to take the bill folder, but his hand just touched it before Helga's did too. He looked at her with confusion, as did she.

"Helga, it's okay, I'll pay for tonight." Arnold said.

"Nah, let me. I'm the one who pretty much said we had to go on a date tonight." Helga responded.

"But I'm the one taking YOU out, so I should pay." He said patiently.

"I'LL pay, Arnoldo." Helga said impatiently, pulling it toward her.

"No, I'll pay." Arnold pulled it toward him.

"No, I will." Tug.

"No, I will." Tug.

"Give it!" Tug.

"No, let go." Tug.

"I said LET go!" Tug.

"No!" Tug.

"Gimme!" Tug.

"No!" Tug.

"I said gimme!" Tug.

"No! ...Wait, Helga, I have an idea." Arnold said. "I'll pay half, and you pay the other half. How about that?"

Helga blinked, having not thought of that. "Well, okay. Sounds fair." She took her wallet out of her purse and fished out a few dollar bills. "How much is it?"

Arnold checked the price and winced a little. "$30."

"Um...okay..." Helga placed fifteen dollars into the folder, and he did the same. "All right, we're done, now let's get out of here and get to the movies."

Arnold gave a nod and got off his chair. "Okay, Helga. Let's go."


	6. A Crush?

**A/N: Oh, mon dieu!/Mother of Pearl!!!**

**NintendoGal55: The date goes on...it intensifies just like the movie "The Happening"! ...Only more romantic and without the toxic in the air!**

**SuprSingr: AHHHH! More date! D: ...Wait, that's a good thing! :D**

**The following is a "SuprNintendo Production" written by both NintendoGal55 and SuprSingr.**

**Disclaimer: We do not own the characters. So please don't sue us./Really! Do you really want to sue a couple of teens? We ain't got no money!**

* * *

**Arnold Loves Helga**

**Chapter 6**

They walked to the movie theater, mostly in silence, as they were feeling a bit awkward after the events in the restaurant.

Arnold couldn't figure out what had come over him. Why did holding her hand feel so right? Why did he feel the strange urge to get closer to her... and he meant, REALLY close. Why did she look even MORE beautiful in that moment? It didn't make much sense to him. So they were getting along. Big deal. It was just a stupid, forced date that they were going on to humor their peers. It was nothing more. It wasn't SUPPOSED to be anything more. He needed to get his head out of the clouds, and fully understand who he was dealing with. This was HELGA. Helga G. Pataki! She was selfish, brash, arrogant, rude, vindictive, and just plain mean... but she wasn't being any of that now. But that was why none of this made sense. He always knew Helga was a good person deep down, maybe even somone he'd like to be friends with... but in a romantic sense? Nah, he was Arnold, and she was HELGA, for goodness sake. The very thought of them being a couple was ridiculous. They'd go on a strictly traditional date, say their goodbyes, and that would be it. No skin off his back.

As Arnold was having these thoughts, Helga was waging a bit of an inner battle with herself. On the one hand, getting all cozy like this with Arnold was a dream come true for her, but that didn't mean it was for him, so all she could be doing right now was lying to herself. On the other hand, she was deeply enjoying this, and it very well could be their last date, so what would be the harm in enjoying it while it lasts? But she was getting a bit too comfortable here. She had almost spilled the beans about her home life TWICE! She never talked about her home life with anyone, save for Phoebe occasionally. Arnold was the love of her life, which of course meant that she couldn't be getting so cozy with him. Maybe that didn't make sense to some typical couples, but they weren't exactly a normal couple. Heck, they weren't even a couple at all. She was just the secretly lovesick fool who conned him into going on a date with her, when it was clear he didn't want to go out with her. But of course that didn't stop her. No, she would enjoy this while she could. What was the harm in taking a break from pretending to be a bully, and just letting herself enjoy herself with her beloved? There was no harm. Exactly.

Helga smiled contently at her plans, as Arnold smiled somewhat contently with his own.

They reached the movie theater then, and they both walked up to the ticket booth.

"Excuse me, we'd like two tickets to-"

"Evil Twin 3." Helga finished for him, placing a couple of bills in front of the snot nosed teenager in the booth to pay for their tickets.

Arnold's eyes widened at that, and he froze in place, looking over at Helga in surprise.

She seemed unfazed by his staring, and simply looked over at him with a blank expression. "What? You aren't afraid of horror movies, are you?"

Arnold blinked at her, and then looked over at the teenager behind the counter politely. "Um, could you just give us a moment?"

The teenager replied, wiping some snot onto his arm as he spoke in a high-pitched squeaking voice, "Sure,"

Arnold smiled in thanks, and led Helga away from the booth for a moment, then turned to look at her incredulously. "I'm not afraid of horror movies, Helga, but I thought you'd want to see something more..._ romantic_," He blushed. "since this is a... well, a date."

Helga narrowed her eyes at him, and placed her hands on her hips. "Oh, no, Hair boy. There is NO way I'm watching some cheesy, romantic comedy crap movie. I've gotten enough of that from _Olga_." She waved her hand dismissively, and walked back over to the ticket booth, feeling the conversation to be over.

Arnold stood there dumb-founded, but then couldn't control the small grin forming at his lips.

He rejoined Helga and they got the tickets, going inside the theater. As they passed the concession stand, Arnold looked over at Helga.

"I know we just ate and all, but do you want to get some popcorn?" Arnold asked.

"Sure." Helga said nonchalantly. "I bought the tickets, so you get the popped corn and a couple of Yahoo sodas."

Arnold nodded. "That sounds fair." He said agreeably and then went over to the counter.

Helga grinned at his back and followed after him. At least they didn't fuss over who would pay this time. Not that before wasn't a little bit fun. She waited as he got them a tub of popcorn to share, and two Yahoo sodas, which she took so he could carry the popcorn. They went to theatre three, where the movie was playing.

Luckily for them, it wasn't too crowded, so they had a wide variety of a place to sit. They went to a row around the middle section and sat down together, placing their drinks in the cup holders.

"At least we're early." Helga said, pushing back a strand of her hair behind her ear.

"Wouldn't want to miss anything, or have to find a place in the dark." Arnold agreed.

"Oh, that's always the worst, trying to find a place in the dark. It's as if every movie starts off in a dark cave or something! And when there's a brighter scene, it lasts about five seconds before you're blinded by the darkness again!"

Arnold snickered a little at her dramatic proclamation. She was pretty passionate, which was interesting in a girl. "At least we wouldn't have to face it alone if it happened, right?"

Helga glanced at him, and gave a small blush. "Y-Yeah, I guess so."

They looked away from each other again, staring at the blank screen as they waited for the movie to start. Up ahead, a few rows down, two high school-aged teenagers sat down together, exchanged a few words that they couldn't catch, and then proceeded to make out like crazy. Helga grimaced. "Ewww! Criminy, would you look at those two?! They're just slobbering all over each other's faces! That's just...come on! How can you like kissing like that?! Even I wouldn't do that!"

That was a lie, of course. She couldn't help but think of how appealing the idea of kissing Arnold like that would be. Sure, making out was a little out of her league at nine years old, but you couldn't blame her for being curious, could you?

"That IS a bit much..." Arnold managed, trying to look away from the incredibly intimate display. It also reminded him of the fact that they had nearly kissed back at the restaurant.

He blushed, and finally managed to rip his eyes away from the two teens, opting to look over at Helga instead. He chuckled a little at the horrified look on her face.

Helga looked over at him then, and then back at the two teens. "Geez, you know what that is, right? It's hormones. They get all up in ya and make you wanna make out with just about anyone... or if you're in love, you tend to favor making out with them, but this..." She gestured forward to the two teens. "This is just disgusting! And they're doing it in PUBLIC no less!" She shuddered dramatically, and looked back over at Arnold.

Arnold couldn't help but nod in agreement. "I know. It's kind of weird to think that I might actually be kissing someone like that someday... it's weird thinking that I'll be kissing anyone, actually." He shrugged a little.

She nodded, her eyes wide. "You and me both!"

Just then the lights began to dim, and the teenage boy began attempting to push the girl to the ground, and before long they had both fallen to the floor with a loud CLUNK.

Helga stuck her tongue out, and decided that she'd had enough. She grabbed up a handful of popcorn, and threw it over at the teenagers. "HEY! Get a room!" Helga yelled, and several murmurs of agreement soon followed from several others behind them.

The two teenagers looked over at her, and even though it was kind of dark, she could've sworn she could see them blushing. They both sat up in their seats again, looking pretty disheveled, but tame now.

Helga let out a sigh of relief, and sipped from her drink. She could sense eyes on her, so she looked over to Arnold, to find him giving her a greatly amused expression, and a chuckle was even heard escaping his throat.

Helga blinked at him, and sat her cup back down in her holder. "What's so funny?"

Arnold smiled at her. "Nothing, just you." He looked back at the screen then, with a contented smile on his face and half-lidded eyes.

Helga blushed, and leaned back a little in her seat to try and keep Arnold from noticing her blush. Yes, she knew it was dark, but it couldn't hurt to stay on the safe side. She lifted the arm rest in between them, and sat the bucket of popcorn in between them so they could both have easy access to it. She then took a couple pieces and popped them in her mouth, as the opening music began to play.

Arnold relaxed back in his seat a little, and sipped his drink a bit as he thought, the opening music to the movie playing in the backround of his mind. Okay, things were going pretty good now. They hadn't fought at all, other than the bill, which, looking back on it, was actually kind of fun. Maybe this would be okay. He was almost in the clear. The date was almost over. After the movie, they could part ways, and that would be that. An unexpected feeling came over him then... disappointment.

He was actually having a good time. She was... an interesting person to be around. And he couldn't help but kind of like her spontanity, her vivaciousness, her overly passionate way of doing things... it was all just so...

He looked over at her then, curiously, to see her eyes opened wide and staring contently at the screen. Every few seconds she'd blink, and he could vaguely see her long eyelashes flutter as she did so. It was so weird seeing her like this. She had always been one of the guys... only in a pink dress. But... she definitely wasn't one now. Now she was an actual girl. Granted he always knew she was a girl, but he'd never really registered it. It never really seemed to matter too much... but now...

She looked over at him, to catch him staring at her with a thoughtful look. Their eyes held, and Arnold blinked. This was very strange.

It seemed as if every time their eyes met, he just couldn't look away. There was something about her eyes, granted he couldn't see their colour clearly at the moment, that just made him want to keep looking into, as if trying to find something, as if they were drawing him in. He'd never realized how beautiful and blue they really were, not until this evening when he'd had moments of looking into them. There wasn't an ounce of hatred in them, even in her most irate moments over the past couple of hours.

They were so pretty.

A scream coming from the movie caused them both to jump and look away from each other, both of them letting out the breaths they hadn't realized they'd been holding. Once over the embarrassment and the startlement-inducing scream from the movie, they sat back in their seats and kept their eyes glued to the screen, occasionally reaching for some popcorn.

Helga began to think then, paying as much attention to the movie as she could, as her thoughts ran wild in her head. This was the last bit of their date, and she was dreading the end of it. Of course, she didn't want him to suffer anymore than he had to, but the selfish bit of her mind didn't want this evening to end. It had been going so well! Aside from their little argument over the bill, and her occasional aggressive spats, everything was going so well. It was especially a dream come true to be on a date and alone with Arnold, obviously. Still, she knew it would eventually.

And then never happen again.

Not unless she came forward and confessed her feelings. But it wasn't that simple. Not for her, at least. Confessing her love for him was something she really wanted to do, so she wouldn't have to hide it and then could be honest with him about everything she was feeling. But then of course came the factor that he would likely reject her. After all, she was Helga, the girl who tormented him with senseless teasing and beat-up threats that she never followed through with. No matter how tough she was, or acted for that matter, she knew she could never hit him. Not even in her angriest moment. Inflicting physical harm on him would kill her.

Helga shook her head frantically to rid herself of such thoughts and knew she had to face reality. Tomorrow, she would go back to being Helga, and he would go back to being Arnold. This date was after all, to humour their peers, end the silly fad of their alleged love and even to feed her own little fantasy.

But at least I can treasure this wonderful date in my heart forever... Helga thought with a smile. We actually ended up having a good time...I guess that's good. At least he's not suffering.

She reached for some more popcorn, and didn't see that Arnold was doing the same. Inevitably, their hands brushed each other's and they froze, looking over at one another. Arnold blushed considerably, and Helga did too, neither of them moving.

"S-Sorry..." Arnold whispered, withdrawing his hand.

"I-It's okay." Helga murmured, pulling her hand away also. She smiled at him reassuringly, and held back a giggle at his growing blush.  
Arnold wasn't sure why, but every time she smiled, it sent shivers up and down his spine, something he wasn't used to feeling. In fact, for most of the evening, especially right now, he felt strange around Helga. Very strange. But in a good way. He found himself actually enjoying her company, feeling more relaxed when she too seemed at ease, laughed at her witty remarks, and felt really good inside when she would smile or laugh.  
The fact she was really, really pretty tonight didn't help matters. How or why he was feeling like this, he didn't know. The date had gone from fear and dread, to enjoyment and wonder, much to his surprise.

He gazed her again, taking in her content and soft face as she watched the movie, chewing on some popcorn before swallowing. That was when his eyes fell onto her mouth. He'd never noticed before, but she had quite pouty lips, and were accentuated with her lipstick, light enough to blend, but dark enough to pop.

Come to think of it, he'd never thought about kissing a girl he liked before. Even kissing Ruth McDougal felt really awkward, even when he liked her. But now, looking at Helga's lips, his curiosity was suddenly getting the better of him. What did it feel like to kiss a girl? Sure, he was only nine and not many nine-year-old kids who had crushes on each other would kiss, but it could happen, and it wasn't completely uncommon.  
Arnold's eyes widened and he shook his head frantically. What was he thinking?! He and Helga...actually kissing? Whoa, no way!

...Then again... He glanced over at her again, but then shook his head frantically and began sucking at his drink mercilessly. Really, if he even tried to kiss her she'd probably pop him one right in the nose. What was he thinking? No. The only reason his spine was tingling was because they were watching a horror film. The only reason his hand still felt warm and tingly from her fingers brushing it was because... she had really warm hands. The only reason he kept blushing around her was because this whole situation they were in was embarrassing and slightly awkward...-ly comfortable, and sort of... nice.

Yeah, things were going pretty okay. But still, what did he know about Helga? He knew she was smart. Okay, so what? Lots of girls were smart. She was... Well, nice. She was pretty too... but that shouldn't really matter. She was funny... okay, hilarious. Her witty and sarcastic remarks always had him, at the very least, grinning widely in amusement. So he understood her humor. She was... he wasn't sure... there was just something about her...

Wait, what was he thinking? Was he actually considering having a CRUSH on Helga Pataki?! Ugh, that was completely insane. Arnold and Helga... okay, that didn't sound too bad, but the people behind the names... together... no, no, no. That was ridiculous... right?

Arnold grunted quietly to himself, deciding it would probably be best to just forget about all the aspects behind his situation, and to just try and enjoy himself. Things were going pretty good, they were getting along, so over-thinking things might jeopardize everything. Yes, he'd just shut it, suck it up, and deal with it.

He sat his cup back into it's holder, and reached for some popcorn, suddenly feeling his hand once again brush hers. He looked over at her then, and she looked back, before they both quickly retracted their hands and turned their attention back to the movie, deciding not to press on the embarrassing occurrence.

Helga snickered at someones head getting blown off in the movie, and nudged Arnold a little, whispering to him, "What do ya wanna bet that goldylocks goes next?"

Arnold blinked and glanced over at her. "I don't know... it seems like the guy with the red hair has been lagging behind an awful lot."

"Well, yeah, but the blonde keeps getting distracted with how her new blouse keeps getting blood stains on it. I'd be willing to bet she gets her head blown off next." She smirked at him.

Arnold squinted his eyes at her playfully, and gave her his own smirk. "What are you willing to bet?"

"I've got a yo-yo, some custard tarts, and a Mr. Fudgy that I can give ya first thing tomorrow morning if you happen to be correct. What you got?"

He held his smirk, and leaned forward a bit in her face in challenge. "I've got TWO Mr. Fudgys and a can of cheddar cheese whiz."

Her smirk broadened, and she held out her hand to him. "Looks like we've got ourselves a bet. Ya ready to lose, Head boy?"

He took her hand firmly, and shook it. "Only in your dreams, Helga."

"Correction; in YOUR dreams, Arnoldo." She responded, shaking his hand firmly in return.

"You're on."

"And you're on too."

They smirked at each other playfully before settling back in their seats to pay attention to the movie, keeping their eyes peeled for the next victim.

Arnold ate some more popcorn, unable to keep the smile off his face or feeling so giddy inside. This was...fun! Really fun. It was hard to believe they'd just made a silly bet between each other as if they were old buddies. He liked it though, it was fun that they connected like that. The adrenaline and excitement coursed through him, having not felt that way in a while, though it did bring him back to the time that he, Gerald, and Helga were at the old train station to see if the urban legend about the Haunted Train was true. Which of course turned out to be bogus, since the train was nothing more than a commuter train bringing employees of the steel mill to work.

It was pretty hard to believe he was having this much fun with Helga, but he'd think about it later. Right now, he was too busy having fun.

"Oh yeah, you're so going to lose." Helga leaned back in her chair, crossing her legs and arms and smirked. "Get ready to fork over the yummy goods, football head."

Arnold smirked in return, imitating her pose. "It's not over until it's over, Helga."

"We'll see about that."

They smirked at one another, and then reverted their gazes back to the screen, just in time to see the red-haired victim get his head sliced off with one swing from a machete wielded by the evil twin. Helga's eyes widened and her jaw dropped, unable to comprehend that Arnold had won the bet.  
"No way." She uttered.

Arnold chuckled and smiled. "Looks like I win."

"Ooohhh...you win this time, Arnoldo. But next time, you won't be so lucky!" Helga declared, with playfulness in her tone, and pointed her finger at his nose. "Meet me tomorrow in the alley next to the school, I'll give you the goods there. If anyone asks, you brought them yourself."  
Next time? His heart leaped at the possibility of there being a next time, and he found himself nodding. She smiled at him and settled back in her seat, sipping her drink as she turned her attention back to the movie.

Wait, what?!

Next time?!

She couldn't have possibly been insinuating that there be...a next time they'd go on a date, could she? Arnold wasn't sure what to make of that. Not just the possibility of it, but more of the fact that he wasn't too opposed of the idea.

That didn't sound right. Hours ago, the possibility of them dating AGAIN was a worser nightmare than just one date! But now that he found himself having a good time, no, a GREAT time, it was hard to believe that he'd felt so opposed to go on a date with her. What a development! It had gone from his worst nightmare, to probably one of the best dates he would ever experience in his life.

Now that he thought about it, would he ever feel this way when dating a girl again? He wasn't sure. Helga was definitely one of a kind, he knew there was so much more to her than she let on, and he liked her...a little bit more than he'd ever expected to. The other girls in their class were all nice and interesting in their own ways, but Helga, she was something else. Big time. She had this spark about her that he couldn't comprehend, and yet, he found himself liking it more and more.

Arnold paused in the middle of eating his popcorn, pondering all of this some more. Come to think of it, if he compared the other girls in their class to Helga, they definitely came out short. He liked the company of the other girls, even Rhonda when she would sometimes quit acting like a rich snob, but there was something about Helga's company that made him feel both relaxed and excited all at the same time.

Helga's sudden laughing broke him from his reverie, and he looked over at her, to see her grinning widely and pointing at the screen in sheer glee. "Ha! She may not have gone before carrot head, but she went after!" She chuckled.

Arnold looked to the screen curiously, to indeed see the blonde's head having been blown off.

Helga poked a finger in his face suddenly, and he stared at it cross-eyed, before looking up to meet her eyes and fully recognize her smirking face. "You see, Arnoldo? I was THAT close from winning! Ha!" She withdrew her finger, and made a show of dusting it off on the top of her dress.

He scoffed mockingly, and leaned over to her a little, wearing his own smirk. "Yeah, but close doesn't quite cut it, now does it, Helga?"

She scowled at him, and pushed him back gently. "Shut up!" She tried to look convincing, but she couldn't quite control the small snicker that escaped from the confines of her throat.

Arnold saw her scowl falter, and heard her snicker, and gained back his smirk. "I'm so convinced, Helga."

She rolled her eyes at him, and then dropped her scowl, grabbing a hand full of popcorn and throwing it at him. "I said, shut up!" She laughed.

He gasped, and started picking the popcorn out of his hair, glaring at her mockingly. "Helga, don't you realize the consequences that could come from throwing popcorn at innocent boys?"

She put on a mock pensive face, and placed a hand on her chin as she did so. She then looked at him seriously. "I suppose. But I don't remember throwing any popcorn at any innocent boys."

She was instantly met by a few buttery, white, puffy projectiles hitting her right in the face. She pouted slightly, and began picking them off of her, popping them in her mouth as she went. "You know, Arnold, it's not proper to play with your food."

He shrugged as he spoke. "Who said I was playing? This is war." He squinted his eyes at her, and she squinted her eyes back.

She leaned in a bit closer to his face, her eyes still squinted at him. "You do realize what you're implying, correct?"

"I do." He leaned forward into her face more, his eyes still squinted at her.

Helga filled the remaining space between their faces and crushed her nose into his slightly. "Then I guess this means this is war."

He cut his eyes a little more at her, and merely nodded.

In a flash they were both grabbing handfulls of popcorn and throwing the popcorn at eachother, both laughing insanely as they went. There were a few people who were shushing them loudly, but they ignored them and continued. Before long they had run out of popcorn, and Helga grabbed up the tub of popcorn, crushing it onto Arnold's head. He screeched in defiance, but she just continued crushing it on his head, giggling like a little school girl.

He shook it off his head after she ceashed pushing it down on him, and then pounced over at her from where he sat, and began wrestling her to the ground, laughing crazily as he did so.

"Okay okay okay! I give! Uncle! Now quit it!" Laughed Helga.

Arnold stopped, now on top of her on the floor, and looked down at her with a grin, chuckling. "Okay, I'll stop."

She stuck her tongue out at him and smiled widely.

For a few moments, he just looked down at her from the dimmed light from the movie screen, the way her hair, with some popcorn still stuck it, spilled out along the floor like a messed up halo, her cheeks were bright pink from all their little play fighting, and she panted softly, her lips slightly parted. His breath hitched as he took in just how cute she looked, how pretty she looked.

On instinct, he reached down and gently caressed her cheek. Her eyes widened at his sudden gesture of affection, but she made no attempt to move his hand away.

"Arnold?" She questioned softly.

A flutter came to his heart as he took in the softest, sweetest voice he'd ever heard from her, and Arnold felt more drawn to her than he could have ever imagined. His breath hitched again as her hand covered his, closing her eyes and leaning into his touch. She smiled, seeming to be in pure bliss.

Did she...like this?

A scream erupted from the movie, causing them both to jump and their eyes to widen. Arnold shook his head frantically, loosening some popcorn bits and stood up from the floor, holding his out for Helga to grab. She took his hand and he helped her to her feet, and they sat back in their original seats.

"Sorry about that, Helga. I got carried away." Arnold admitted, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Forget about it, football head." Helga said dismissively, and smiled a little. "But you're not too bad of a wrestler."

Arnold blushed a bit. "Um....thanks, I guess."

"You're welcome." She winked at him and turned her attention back to the movie.

He looked at her for a few moments and smiled, taking out the popcorn from his hair and looking back at the screen.

That was...fun. Really fun. Arnold was in disbelief and wonder at how much fun they were having just now, and how the evening just escalated to being even better. Funny, how just hours ago he would have rather gone through a route canal instead of this. Now, after having had so much fun over the evening, he wouldn't have changed a thing if he could go back in time.

The movie was almost over, a little over halfway through, and Arnold felt a pang of disappointment as he realized that after the movie, the date would be over. Not to mention, probably never going on a date with her again. It really didn't sound like a bad idea at all. In fact, he pretty much wanted to now.

But wait, did that mean...?

No, no, I can't possibly be gaining a crush on her! I mean, I like her...a lot, but we could just have fun together as friends, right? If I had a crush on her, she'd never go out with me again, she said so herself I had "one chance", but I didn't even want a chance. Arnold thought, clutching his hands on his lap nervously.

Either way, he really didn't want the date to end.

As Arnold was pondering his deep thoughts, Helga was in Heaven. She'd just had a really fun time with him then, and she could tell he was having fun too. The date was going so much better than she thought! So much so, that she REALLY wanted to go on a date with him again. That was a given, but after having been through this date, she wanted to even more.

But she couldn't do that. It would give him the impression that she loved being with him, though she was beginning to think that he knew she did like being with him...even just as a friend. And what if they did get together as a couple? Their classmates would never let them hear the end of it! No matter how much she wanted to, the following Monday when we they went back to school, would be the day of reality. She'd go back to being Helga, and he would go back to being Arnold.

Tears pooled in her cheeks as reality set in and her heart sank. At least she had one great evening to remember and cherish.

"Helga?" She heard his sweet voice question her. "Helga, are you okay?"

"Huh?" She looked at him then. He was looking up at her with genuine concern, probably having seen her tears. "Well...yeah, of course I'm okay, why wouldn't I be?"

"You're not crying, are you? What's wrong?"

"N-Nothing's wrong! I-I just have something in my eye, that's all!"

Arnold didn't buy it, but he nodded and sat back in his seat. "Whatever you say, Helga."

"Exactly, Football Head. Whatever I say." She said a bit weakly, and then slouched a little in her seat, her eyes down-cast.

Arnold frowned at all this. He thought they were having a good time... so why was she suddenly looking so sad?

He sighed quietly at the thought, knowing that if he did try to help her, she'd probably push him away, just like earlier in the restaurant.

...Still.

He placed a hand on her shoulder gently, and gave her a small smile.

She saw this, and couldn't help but smile back.

A sudden girlish shriek from the screen ahead shocked them out of the tender moment, and they were engrossed back into the movie again, watching in awe as the Evil Twins went on another killing spree.

* * *

They emerged from the theater, and threw away their popcorn containers and empty soda cups, both with smiles on their faces and still a little bit of popcorn in their hair.

Helga looked over at Arnold, and halted him with her arm, smiling a very amused smile. "Uh, Football Head, now that we're in the light..." She snickered a little before continuing, "You've, uh, got popcorn all up in your hair."

Arnold blinked, and then bent his head over, beginning to brush all the popcorn out of his hair. Once done, he stood straight and smirked at her. "You do too, Helga."

Helga frowned, and then shook her head wildly, pieces of popcorn flying everywhere.

Arnold had to duck down a little to avoid getting hit by her hair, or any puffy projectiles.

Once she was done, her hair was a bit frizzed, so she began flattening it back out with her hands. "So, what now, Football Head?"

They walked out of the multiplex, and stopped just outside. Arnold looked over at her, and started rubbing his arm nervously. "Well, uh... I was thinking that maybe you'd want to... come over to the boarding house? We could have ice cream and watch more scary movies. I've got lots of horror films that I'm sure you'd like..." He rubbed the back of his neck nervously, looking away.

Helga wore a blank expression, her eyes a little wide, and she was standing straight up. She blinked a couple times, and then put both her hands behind her back, and pinched her arm. She winced, and then gave him a smile. "Sure, let's go."

Arnold snapped his eyes back to hers, and the hand that was rubbng the back of his neck dropped down to his side. "Really?"

She shrugged, trying to make it seem nonchalant.

Arnold smiled, and took her hand, beginning to lead her down the sidewalk in the direction of his home.


	7. Ice Cream, Weddings, and Movies

**A/N: Bark! Meow! Tweet!/Kono unmei wa utsukushiku... Oh, we're back? Oh! Right. Hello!**

**SuprSingr: This is sooooooo a Huzzah Moment! So... HUZZAH!**

**NintendoGal55: We hope you enjoy their getting closerness! And oh, all of the movies and music artists mentioned are all spoofed from real life. See if you can spot them! :D**

**The following is a "SuprNintendo Production" written by both SuprSingr and NintendoGal55.**

**Disclaimer: Interesting how we've informed everyone that we DON'T own this show six times... but they're still making us do this!/WE. OWN. NOTHING. OKAY?! Good.**

* * *

**Arnold Loves Helga**

**Chapter 7**

The pair walked on down the darkened city streets in the direction of the Sunset Arms in contended silence. The past couple of hours had been really fun, a lot more fun than either of them expected, so much so that neither of them wanted it to end.

Arnold felt admittedly very surprised at how he'd gathered his courage to practically admit to Helga he didn't want the date to end so soon, which was why he invited her over. It was even surprising to him, having not expected that he'd want to still spend more time with her, and yet, now he really did. It was, after all, the only time they'd ever get to this. Unless he maybe asked her out again, but the result of that would most likely not be positive.

The thought disappointed him a little. No, quite a bit more than before. He'd never had so much fun with a girl before, unless you counted Valentine's Day. This was different, though. A lot different.

Another thought occurred to him then. Could he possibly have a crush on her? He wasn't sure. He definitely liked her a lot, and enjoyed spending time with her when she was actually being herself, but a crush? No, it seemed so wrong.

And yet so right.

He shook his head to rid himself of such thoughts and let out the deep breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding and looked at Helga again. Despite she looked a little disheveled from earlier, she still looked beautiful. Especially now, she was smiling a bit as they were walking together, looking lost in thought. He could remember all the times she smiled this evening, and couldn't help but think of how beautiful her smile was.

He looked down at their hands, only now pretty much registering the fact that they were holding hands. Of course, he had taken her hand and led her off down the street when she'd agreed to go back with him to the boarding house. This was certainly new, he'd never held hands with anyone aside from his grandparents and relatives. It was his first time holding hands with a girl, and it felt...nice.

Helga tilted her head ever so slightly to get a look at him out of the corner of her eye, and noticed him staring down at their joined hands. It was right then that she too noticed that they were still holding hands. She hadn't really noticed... it just felt natural. But... maybe he found it uncomfortable? He did keep glancing at their hands every few seconds as they walked. She gulped a little, suddenly feeling nervous, and unwrapped her fingers from around his hand, then carefully slid it out of his own all together. She smiled nervously at him, and rubbed her arm nervously as they continued to walk. "Sorry, Arnold. I, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. If you didn't want to hold hands you should have just said so." She offered a more firm smile, though she knew she still must have looked pretty nervous considering what a wreck she was inwardly.

Arnold blinked at her, and shook his head, gently taking her hand again. "I don't mind. I've just never really held hands with a girl before. It's... kinda nice." He smiled at her.

She inwardly squealed, while on the outside her nervous smile finally morphed into a genuine, full one. "Oh," She looked away shyly. "okay."

He smiled, and then looked ahead again, as a contented silence enveloped them once again.

Arnold thought, it was a bit odd how nervous and shy she was being... then again, her behavior all night had been a bit strange. She'd been pretty okay all night... well, more than okay. Nice. The entire evening had been extremely pleasant. She was... interesting. He didn't quite know what word to describe her as. She was interesting... and he liked it.

But right now she was being so quiet. So shy. Looking a bit nervous and... sweet. He shook his head of these thoughts. It was silly. But... she was acting weird around him... was it possible that she liked him? Like, _really_ liked him?

He almost laughed at the thought. Helga... liking HIM? That was ridiculous. She'd always been so mean to him, and she'd seemed pretty upset about going on a date with him.

No, she definitely didn't like him... before. His heart raced. Could she possibly like him like him NOW? His heart fluttered at the idea. He blinked, and shook his head. That was strange. Why would he care? It wasn't like he liked her liked her... right? Right. Still, his heart fluttered, for whatever reason, at the idea of her actually liking him in a more romantic sense.

Once more, it brought the question back to him. Did he like her? REALLY like her? He still wasn't sure. But strangely, he just couldn't say yes, but he also couldn't say no either.

In all honesty, he didn't know.

_'I'll figure it out eventually.'_ Arnold thought, unconsciously squeezing her hand a little tighter. _'But if I DO turn out to like her...well, like her like her, what do I do then? Obviously I'd want to go out with her again, but would she want that?'_

He sighed. This was all too difficult to think about now. He should just enjoy the rest of the evening with her while he could. He'd worry about the future later.

Thankfully, they were nearing the boarding house, he could see it down the street where they were at. Arnold released the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding in, feeling a little more at ease. They'd go back to the boarding house, watch a movie or two, eat some ice cream, and just have fun. Never mind the difficult stuff right now. That was for later.

"So Arnold, what ice cream flavours do you have? They better be good." Helga suddenly said.

Snapped out of his reverie, Arnold shook his head frantically. "Oh, right, ice cream. Yeah, I think we have chocolate and vanilla, and...orange, I think."

"Orange?" Helga parroted, snickering. "I don't think I've had orange."

"It's pretty good, actually." Arnold told her. "I think you'll like it, if you like sweet ice cream with a touch of the tangy fruity taste."

"Huh...well! I like the sound of a challenge, football head." Helga smirked. "All right, I'll try it."

Arnold smiled fondly at her and gave a nod. "Okay, Helga. I think you'll really like it, trust me."

"Whatever you say, Arnold." Helga said nonchalantly.

He snickered a little. "Isn't that supposed to be my line?"

"Oops. Sorry." Helga smirked, not the least bit sorry.

"Criminy." Arnold said, giving a light smirk of his own.

Helga blinked in surprise at his response, and then burst into genuine giggles, bringing her free hand to her mouth. Arnold smiled at the display and found himself laughing along with her.

Pretty soon, they finally reached the front stoop of the boarding house. Arnold opened the door, and the barrage of animals came flocking out, with Abner casting a glance at Helga, his little eyes seeming to say "I know you!" before he led the rest of the animals along outside. Helga, caught off guard, grabbed onto Arnold for protection.

"You let them out this late?" She asked.

"Sometimes, yeah. When it's more quiet and all." He nodded.

He led her inside and shut the door behind them, just as Phil came to greet them from the kitchen.

"Well hey! Welcome back, short man!" He cajoled, and his eyes fell on Helga. "And well! If it isn't Helga." His eyes twinkled knowingly, making ure Helga's own eyes widen.

"Grandpa, I invited Helga over so we could watch movies and have some ice cream, if that's okay." Arnold explained.

Phil grinned a secret grin, casting it to Helga for a moment, which only made her eyes widen more. "Sounds good, Shortman. I'm guessing your little date has been going well, then?" He raised an eyebrow, still smiling.

Arnold's own eyes widened then, and he looked away. "Uh, sure." He took Helga's hand again, and began leading her up the stairs to his room, a bit briskly as he knew of what his grandfather was capable of. "Well, I'll just take Helga up to my room then!" He ran up the remainder of the stairs, Helga dragging behind a bit as she struggled to keep up, and as they entered the hall, Phil could hear Helga's voice ring out, "Woa! Where's the fire, Football Head?! Slow down!"

"Sorry, Helga."

Phil chuckled, and turned around, beginning to walk back into the living room. "I'm such a wily old coot..."

* * *

Arnold walked up the stair of his room, and then opened the door and stepped aside for Helga to go in first. She smiled and walked in, observing the room in wonderment. Of course she'd been in his room before... but it was still so enchanting.

Arnold walked in after, observing her far away look with a bit of pride. He took her arm gently, and turned her around a little to face him. "Um, you can just sit on the couch and wait while I go get the ice cream."

She looked over at him, and blinked, as her eyes wandered the room. "What couch?"

He smiled a little, and grabbed his remote from his bed, then pressed a button and a red, retro couch flipped out from the wall.

She turned around, and smiled "Fancy." She commented coolly. Of course she'd already known he had a flip out couch from the one time she had been traveling through his air vents to get the tape from his phone to-... she really didn't want to think about that again. She walked over and sat down on it, crossing her legs.

He smiled, walking out the door, before he poked his head back in and asked, "You want orange, right?"

She smirked. "I thought we already went over this."

He gave her a light smirk back before poking his head back out and shutting the door.

As soon as the door clicked shut, Helga ran over and jumped onto his bed, giggling like crazy as she buried her head into his pillow.

* * *

Phil chuckled as he walked into the kitchen, yelling back to Gertie from the doorway. "Yeah, don't get so ahead of yourself, Pookie! It's only their first date! We've got plenty of time to plan the wedding!" He chuckled once more, just turning around to find Arnold standing there stalk still, his eyes wide, mouth agape, and an orange popsicle stick in each hand, and Phil thought he could even see a hint of a blush on his cheeks.

"You all right there, short man?" Phil grinned at his grandson with amusement. "Gettin' cold feet already?"

"G-Grandpa...! We...I...." Arnold stammered. "...Never mind."

He hurried away to get back upstairs, and Phil laughed to himself.

"Ah, our little Arnold is growing up..."

* * *

Arnold returned to his room, shutting the door behind him and taking a deep breath. His gaze fell back on Helga, who was staring at him with a look of amusement and confusion, one side of her eyebrow raised.

"What's with you?" She asked.

"Uh...nothing, nothing, Helga. Um, here." He went over to her and handed her one of the popsicle sticks, then sat down on the couch next to her.

"Oookaaayy..." Helga was weirded out, but decided against asking any further. Hey, he showed her the same courtesy most of this evening, maybe it was time to return the favour. She shrugged and licked her popsicle, testing the flavour before licking it once more to absorb it. "Hey, you're right. It IS good."

Arnold smiled, licking his own popsicle. "I know, isn't it?"

"What? No 'I told you so'? Come on football head, if you're going to prove me right about something, at least play the part!" Helga teased, closing her mouth around the tip of the popsicle thoughtfully.

"Oh, sorry, Helga." Arnold rubbed the back of his neck and smirked a little. "I mean, I told you so."

"Too late now, hair boy."

"It's never too late to correct a mistake."

"You and your goody-two-shoes Saint-Like Do-Gooder stuff. Why do you have to hit things so close to home, football head?"

"I guess it's just what I try to do." Arnold shrugged a little.

Helga smirked lightly, taking a small bite of her popsicle. "Whatever you say. So, football head, what movies do you have in store for tonight?"

Arnold blinked, a pensive look coming to his face. He stuffed the popsicle into his mouth and stood, walking over to his shelf and looking through his videos. He came to one, and smirked, popping his popsicle out of his mouth and turning to Helga, video in hand. "What would you think of watching 'That oh so Special Someone'?" He grinned mockingly.

Helga scrunched her eyebrow down, and bit off a large portion of the popsicle, staring him in the eye. "I've got a better idea. How about we watch football? I always love to watch those big buff meaty lookin' guys kicking that football all over the place... makes ya think, doesn't it?" She glared at him.

Arnold rolled his eyes, and turned back around, placing it back on his shelf. "Yeah, I was actually hoping you'd say that. My grandma loves that movie."

Helga made a face, and then shook her head a little. "Ugh, Olga made me watch it once. Worst twelve seconds of my life." She rolled her eyes.

Arnold turned back around to look at her, and raised an eyebrow. "But the movie is an hour and fifty-seven minutes long."

Helga laughed a little, and stuffed the last of her popsicle into her mouth. "Yeah, but it only took me twelve seconds to fall asleep." She cackled a little, and threw her popsicle stick across the room and into his trash can.

Arnold smiled. "Good shot." He commented, somewhat absent-mindedly as he turned back around and began flipping through his videos again, his popsicle hanging from his mouth.

Helga smiled at the back of his head, and almost let out a lovesick sigh, but she caught herself, and stood up to go and help him look for a movie. She stood beside him, now looking through them. "Let's see here... Moll-E... Over the shrub... Finding Emo... Monsters Corp... What the?" She held one up, raising one side of her eyebrow.

Arnold looked over at her curiously. "What?"

"Disco Dancing..." She gave him an amused look, the video still held up to her face. "Why, Hair boy, I didn't know you danced."

Arnold sighed, and began looking through the videos again. "I don't dance disco, Helga. It's my grandma's video."

She blinked at him, looking back at the video, then back to him. "Why is your grandma's video in your room?"

Arnold paused a moment, his eyes widening a little, and then he simply shook his head and went back to looking through his videos again. "I don't wanna know, and I have a feeling you wouldn't wanna know either."

Helga raised one side of her eyebrow, but then simply shrugged and placed the video back on his shelf. "'Kay..." She looked through the videos again, and suddenly her eyes lit up and she picked one out. "Well, what do ya know. The football head has good taste."

Arnold smiled a little as he looked over at her, then looked at the video in her hand and smiled a little. "Yeah, I love that movie."

She grinned, looking on the back of the movie case. "The Satrix." She shook her head. "Geez, this movie is cool." She tossed it to Arnold, and walked back over to the couch to sit down.

"It really is cool all right." Arnold went into his closet, and took out a rolling tray trolley, with a decent-sized portable TV and a video player sitting on it. "Sometimes if I'm home sick or just want to be on my own, I watch a movie myself." He turned the TV on and inserted the video, pressing play.

"Pretty dandy. Wish I had a TV in my room." Helga said nonchalantly, crossing her legs again. She looked around his room, though despite seeing it before. "Come to think of it, your sound system is so boss. I sure wouldn't mind having that in my room either."

Arnold blushed a little, sitting back down beside her with the remote in hand. "Thanks, Helga. It's pretty fun, I even have a collection of vinyl records and a vinyl player."

"Well...surprise surprise," Helga leaned toward him, perching her arm on her leg, laying her chin on her fist. "So who do you like?"

Arnold fast-forwarded the movie as he pondered her question. "I've got a collection of the classic Dino Spumoni records, um... I also have some of The Bees, Steve Wonder, Gordie Dex, Charlie Ray, Les Armstrong, Tommy William, Elvin Parksley..."

"Well! The football head has really good taste." Helga's eyes twinkled.

"...Really?" Arnold looked to her in amazement. "Most people I know think it's dumb that I like classic music from decades back."

"What do they know?" She snorted. "For your information, hair boy, I've got a pretty good collection of records back at home myself. Especially those classic rock bands, like the Roller Rocks, Lev Jeppelin, Jim Hendricks, The What, The Windows, Roses and Guns, DC/BC, Det Lennard, Arrowsmith....I could go on, but that's the gist of it."

"Wow." He murmured in amazement, and pressed Play on the remote just as the movie was starting. "That's really cool, Helga. They all have really great music, even if I don't listen to much of it, I can't deny that they're really good."

"Darn straight." Helga winked, and turned her attention to the movie. "All right, now let's watch the Satrix and get lost in the world of technology."

"Whatever you say, Helga." Arnold smiled.

They fell silent as the movie started, watching attentively.

* * *

Meanwhile, Gerald and Phoebe were just leaving Dino Land together, holding hands as they exited the park.

"Man, that was great! I had a great time! Did you?" Gerald looked at Phoebe with a fond grin.

Phoebe smiled and nodded. "I did, Gerald. I had a very good time with you tonight."

Gerald gave a soft blush and grinned. "Glad to hear it, babe. Man, I hope I can say the same for Arnold, since he's stuck out with Helga."

"I think you might be surprised, Gerald." Phoebe said softly.

"Huh? You think so?" He glanced at her curiously.

"I know Helga comes off as a bully to everyone, but once you get to know her and she relaxes, you may see a different side of her." Phoebe explained.

"Ohhh..." Gerald said, and nodded. He smiled, trusting her judgment. "Whatever you say, Pheebs. Want to go get some ice cream and then I'll walk you home?"

Phoebe beamed and nodded. "Sure...I'd like that very much, Gerald." She looked at her watch. "We still have an hour before my curfew, so we should have plenty of time."

"All right, then let's go, M'Lady." Gerald said smoothly, pushing his hair back, which only sprang back up, making Phoebe laugh.

Yeah, he could get used to spending more time with Phoebe.

* * *

"Oh oh! Here comes one of the best parts! You know, when he shoots the gun and it goes into bullet time while the camera rotates? That, is so boss."

"I know, it's pretty cool how they did that with all the effects and everything. Apparently it revolutionized the movie industry."

"Well doi! With a neat effect like that, no wonder!" Helga gripped her knees with anticipation and then managed to relax, leaning back into the couch, which was incredibly comfortable.

Arnold chuckled and nodded in agreement, looking away from the movie and then at Helga for a moment. At least she was still having a good time, which was a good sign. He was too. He was having a REALLY good time with her. A great time, even. So much so, that he really didn't want the date to end. It was after all, the only time he'd ever get to spend with her. In just a matter of a few hours, he had gone from more or less tolerating her, and yet not exactly fond of her, having SOME moments of appreciating her nicer side, all the way to really, really, liking her a lot.

Now it was getting late, and in less than an hour, she would have to go home, and they'd go to school the following week back to the way they were, much to his utter dismay. While it would be easier, considering how she wasn't comfortable exposing herself to their peers, it saddened him because he really wanted to go out with her again sometime. Hanging out with Helga was so much fun, he didn't have one boring moment with her at all. She was witty, full of life, sarcastic but genuinely funny, vivacious, not afraid to speak her mind, and very intimidating when the situation called for it. He'd always been into easy, soft and plush girls, but Helga was none of that. At least, not ONLY that. She was the best of both worlds of being strong and nice at the same time.

He was so wrapped up in his thoughts, that he didn't even notice that he was scooting closer to her on the couch. Maybe it was part of the movie date criteria, or maybe he unconsciously wanted to get close to her because of the circumstances.

Thankfully, it was inconspicuous, since Helga didn't seem to notice at first. But eventually, he was so close to her that their legs nearly touched. When she did notice, she blushed a little, realizing what he was doing.

Letting out the deep breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding, Helga gave a smile and went for it, leaning toward him and laying her head on his shoulder.

Arnold was a bit startled by this new development, but after a few seconds, he relaxed and a smile even came to his face when the strong scent of vanilla wafted up to his nose.

He hesitated a moment, but then raised his arm up, and purely out of instinct and nerves, he yawned before letting his arm rest around her shoulders.

Helga sighed in contentment, and allowed herself to relax a bit more on his form, a soft smile resting on her face.

Arnold looked down at her, butterflies swarming around in his stomach, and hugged her a bit by her shoulders. He saw the smile on her face, and he could feel the corners of his lips begin to curl up into his own smile.

They stayed like that the remainder of the movie.


	8. Goodbye For Now

**A/N: Konnichiwa!/Shwala!**

**NintendoGal55: This is it... The Final Friday. ...Oh, oops! I mean, the final chapter! D: Noooooes!!!!! *Cries***

**SuprSingr: *Sniffles* It's the last chapter! *Bawls* This really bites!!! *Runs around screaming***

**The following is a "SuprNintendo Production" written by both NintendoGal55 and SuprSingr.**

**Disclaimer: We claim no rights to either of the characters!/Because we don't own the freakin' characters! We don't own the show! We don't own ANYTHING! *Runs into a wall screaming***

* * *

**Arnold Loves Helga**

**Chapter 8**

Arnold opened his eyes, and yawned. He attempted to stretch, but it was then that he realized that something soft and warm was leaning on him. He blinked a little through foggy eyes, and looked down to see Helga slouching on him, a blissful smile resting on her sweet face.

She looked so peaceful... Arnold smiled, but then realized that they must have fallen asleep. He yawned again, and looked over towards the clock, seeing that it was almost ten-thirty. He frowned a little, knowing that this meant he'd have to wake her up.

He hugged her close to his chest, and breathed in her vanilla scent, then sighed softly. He took his free hand, and began pushing her hair out of her face gently.

She stirred a little, and her eyelids twitched. He continued brushing her hair out of her face, and before long, her eyes fluttered open, and she yawned. She looked up at him, and he smiled a little. "Hey," He greeted quietly.

She looked panicked for a moment, but then the memories from before flooded back, and she relaxed a little. _'So it wasn't a dream...'_ She smiled at him. "Hey yourself..." She yawned again. "What time is it?"

"Almost ten-thirty... I should probably take you home now."

She frowned a little at that, but realized that she really couldn't argue with him on that. So she nodded a little, still sleepy, and reluctantly straightened up.

He felt himself disappointed by that, but then shook his head a little, and stood from the couch. "Come on..." He stretched his arms up, and then let them fall to his side and slouched.

She nodded, and slid off of the couch, and began walking towards the door.

He quickly ran ahead of her, and opened up the door for her.

She smiled at the gesture, and began walking down the stairs as Arnold watched her for a minute, smiling. He closed the door quietly, and began walking down the stairs after her then.

They both walked down the hall in silence, and then made their ways down the stairs.

As they made it to the door, Arnold opened it again, and Helga wordlessly walked out.

Once they were down on the sidewalk, Arnold grabbed her hand, and she smiled, squeezing his hand a bit as they journeyed down the sidewalk towards her home.

For a while, they didn't say much, just walked along the dark streets of the neighbourhood, which was pretty quiet, aside from the occasional car driving by and even quiet chatter of other people who were outside at this hour.

This was it. The end of the date. Or, almost, anyway. The minute they'd reach Helga's front stoop, it would be over. Funny, how earlier today he'd been looking forward to this moment. But now that they had come to this point, more than ever, he didn't want it to end.

And yet, it was inevitable. All things, good or bad, came to an end. This was one of them.

But it wasn't just the usual "end of the date" disappointment. It was the end of them ever going on a date again. Not unless Helga agreed to it, which he felt was unlikely.

Still, at least he could look back on a great evening with her. Not to mention have a little laugh at how he was dreading it at first and then wound up having a great time. For a first date, and a date with Helga even, it was a great date. He'd had a really good time with her.

"Well...so, I guess this is it, huh?" Helga then said, looking away.

Arnold nodded, coming back to reality again. "Yeah...I guess it is."

"....You know, it was pretty fun, football head. I gotta say, you sure know how to show a girl a good time. Looks like I was wrong about you." Helga said nonchalantly.

That was a lie, of course. She had every faith in him that he could show a girl a good time. And boy he did.

He blushed a bit, squeezing her hand appreciatively. "Thanks, Helga. I'm glad you had a good time. I did too. I had a really good time with you tonight."

"...Really?" Helga looked down at him hopefully.

"I know it might sound weird, considering what we go through on a daily basis and all, not to mention how I was acting beforehand, but...well, I really had fun with you. I enjoyed our date, Helga. I don't think I'll ever forget it." He said honestly, looking into her eyes.

A soft pink blush settled on her cheeks as her heart fluttered like mad in her chest, butterflies exploding in her stomach. She couldn't believe it, he really had a lot of fun with her! And would never forget it! It was a dream come true, she would've openly swooned if not for the fact he was right there in front of her. After all that happened, he wound up enjoying it nearly as much as she did. That was quite an interesting turn, and she was all the more glad of it.

It did make things harder, though. Then again, it did leave an open question as to what could happen next. So, it wasn't a closed, done deal. Maybe, just maybe, they could go out again one day? Maybe after the whole ordeal of their peers making fun of them blew over?

"W-Well....good to know, football head. Guess it's that shocking I apparently can be good company."

"Maybe a little, but I always knew you were a good person inside, Helga." Arnold told her, squeezing her hand reassuringly. "And well, I really like you."

"...What?" Her gaze snapped to him in surprise. "What did you say?"

"O-Oh, sorry." Arnold blushed, averting his gaze, taking her reaction the wrong way. "Never mind."

"Arnold, relax, I'm not gonna bite." Helga rolled her eyes. "So...you like me, huh?"

"Well, yeah." Arnold looked up at her. "It was great getting to know you and spending time with you. I had a lot of fun, like I said, and I like you."

"...I...I like you too. I guess we kinda established that, heh heh heh..." Helga rubbed the back of her neck the same way he did when he was nervous.

"And um...if you'd still like to be friends, I wouldn't mind." Arnold squeezed her hand again, looking down at the ground.

"Whatever floats your boat, I guess." Helga shrugged.

The football-headed boy smiled and blushed a bit, feeling a weight lifting off his chest. At least for now.

"But um, you know...'cause of what's going on with me...and even you at school, we're gonna...ya know, have to keep this under wraps." Helga added in. "Ya know, until this thing blows over. So if anyone asks, we went on the date, and that's that. All over."

"....Oh, well, okay. I understand." Arnold looked a little disappointed. But then again, he saw what she meant. "I guess you're right."

"But, I suppose you can tell Tall-Hair boy...he's not so bad, I guess. Just don't tell anyone else and we'll be golden."

"...So, this evening...never happened?"

Helga was about to respond with yes, since that would normally be the best bet in this, but she caught one look at his hopeful, and slightly pained green eyes and immediately faltered. How could she say such a thing to that face and those eyes?

Now what?

She decided to apt for the next best thing.

"Well, okay, fine, I won't go that far. Just don't tell anyone. It'll be between you and me. ...And I guess Phoebe and Gerald."

"Oh, okay." Arnold gave a nod. "If that'll make you more comfortable, then okay. I won't force you into anything you don't want to."

She smiled a little bit. "Thanks, Arnold."

"You're welcome." He smiled back.

They continued on their walk to her home in contended silence, not even really realizing they were still holding hands, and looked like they were a couple.

Maybe they knew, but didn't really care at the moment.

* * *

Eventually, they made it back to her house. The lights were still on inside, indicating that her parents, or at least her father, were still up. With the inevitable end now present, they approached the stoop, going up a few of the steps.

"Well...here we are." Helga murmured. "I guess this is where it ends."

"Yeah, I guess so." Arnold said. He smiled a little bit then. "Well...I had a great time with you, Helga. ...I'm actually glad that mystery person wrote that message on the wall."

Helga blushed and looked away. "Y-Yeah, sure, I guess..." She wasn't quite sure whether to be proud of herself or not. "So...guess I'll see you at school then."

"Yeah, sure." Arnold took her hand and kissed it. "I'll see you then."

Their gazes met yet again, and Arnold absently let go of her hand, unable to look away from her eyes. Those hypnotic blue eyes he could get so lost in. They were so beautiful, especially now.

Helga looked back into his enchanting green eyes, having already been lost in them the moment their gazes had met. This was it, it was over. All over. The most enchanting evening she'd ever had was just about over.

"...Helga? You okay?" He murmured.

"Huh? Oh...yeah."

It wasn't enough to deter them from what was going on, their eyes and gazes locked on each other like magnets. And before either of them could do anything about it, they leaned in, closer, closer, closer, their eyelids dropping...

Almost instantly, their lips met.

Arnold's insides seemed to explode while his heart was beating at over a million miles a second, and had butterflies in his stomach. His eyes had closed on their own accord as he felt Helga's soft lips, tasting like orange popsicle and yahoo soda, covered his own in a velvetty smoothness he'd never felt before. Was this what would've happened if they hadn't been interrupted back at Chez Paris?

They would have...kissed?

It felt so...nice. Really nice. Electric, even. Arnold could feel himself moving closer to her, one hand on her shoulder, and the other gently playing with her soft hair.

Helga couldn't help but let out a soft moan, as her hands slowly wrapped around the back of his head and neck. Her insides were all in a flurry and she was almost sure her heart was going to beat right out of her chest.

Arnold twirled her hair around his finger absent-mindedly, memorizing it's soft feel, as his lips moved over hers.

The door to the house suddenly flew open, and they both instantly jumped apart in surprise, as if someone had fired a gun.

Bob raised one side of his eyebrow at them, a large, black garbage bag grasped tightly in his fist. "Oh, hey, Olga," He looked over towards Arnold's pinkened face, eyeing him over. "Alfred." He stomped down the steps, and walked over to the trash can right next to the stoop. He lifted the lid up, and settled the bag of trash into the can, put the lid back on, then walked back up the steps of the stoop, and walked in. He looked back out toward Arnold and Helga, seeing them both staring at him with wide eyes. "You comin' in now, Olga?"

Helga blinked at him, her eyes still wide. "Um, it's Helga... and... I-I'll be in in just a sec." She smiled nervously, avoiding Arnold's eyes at all cost.

Bob shrugged, and closed the door, mumbling a, "Whatever."

Helga looked over toward Arnold, her cheeks flushed bright pink and her eyes wide and nervous. "Um..."

Arnold's eyes darted around, his arms hanging awkwardly at his sides. "That was, uh..." He rubbed the back of his neck, his eyes focused on the ground.

Helga gulped, bringing her hands behind her back, and her shoulders slouching a bit. She cleared her throat after a moment of awkward silence, "Heh, we may want to pretend that THAT never happened, though." She laughed nervously.

Arnold looked at her, finally meeting her eyes, and nodded a little, managing a small, nervous smile. "R-Right."

They both stared at eachother, before Arnold let his hand drop from his neck, and he began walking down the steps of the stoop. Once at the bottom, he turned around slightly to look at her, and offered a small smile. "Bye, Helga."

She smiled a little back, and waved goodbye. "Goodbye, Arnold... I'll uh, see ya when I see ya, I guess." She put her hand on the knob of her door.

Arnold nodded, and began walking away, down the sidewalk and towards his home.

Helga watched him walk off, and then entered her home and closed the door, before leaning her back against the door and putting both her hands to her heart. "I kissed him!" She squealed, before fainting.

Bob walked into the hall then, and saw her laying against the door with a blissful smile on her face. He blinked, before sighing and shaking his head. "I'm not even gonna ask." He picked her up, and proceeded to walk up the stairs to take her to her room.

* * *

Arnold gripped at his chest as he walked towards his home, wondering what was wrong with him. He sighed slightly in bliss, his eyes half-closed and looking a bit dazed. "I kissed her..." He mumbled softly, before realizing his actions and shaking his head. He put one hand to his head in confusion. "What is with me?" He sighed as he walked the rest of the way home, his thoughts flooded over with Helga's scent, feel, taste, and all the fun they'd had during their date...

* * *

_'Hey Arnold! Hey Arnold! Hey Arnold! Hey Arno-'_

Arnold disconnected the wires on his potato clock, and stretched, scratching his head. Memories of last night flooded his head, and he felt his eyes lower half-lidded and his lips curl up into a smile. He shook his head a little, getting out of bed. That was over. He had to remember. They went on a date, that's all. They had humored their peers, and it would all be over soon enough. He sighed as he finished brushing his hair, and placed his little blue hat atop his oblong head as always.

He grabbed his book bag, and walked out the door of his room.

Before long, he was out waiting by the bus stop, nervously fiddling with the hem of his sweater.

The bus pulled up, the doors opened, and he walked on board. He could hear a lot of giggles and laughs coming his way as soon as he boarded, and he sighed. Only a little while more of this... and it would be over before he knew it.

He walked down the aisle, when someone suddenly pushed him aside roughly, and he fell back into an empty seat. He straightened up, and looked up just in time to see Helga's scowling face. "Move outta my way, Geek-wad!" She growled.

His heart raced, as he watched her stalk off down the aisle before settling in an empty seat around the back of the bus. He sighed, and stood up then, straightening up his clothes. The giggles had stopped after she'd done that, and he knew that that meant that the taunting was only beginning to come to an end. He walked down the aisle, before settling into a seat next to Gerald.

Gerald frowned at him. "I'm guessing your date didn't go well?"

Arnold looked over at him, and opened his mouth, but then noticing the anxious looks he was getting from everybody he closed it and shook his head.

Everyone blinked at his response, but then all shrugged, going back to their regular conversations.

Gerald patted his friend on the shoulder, and offered a supportive smile. "Well, at least it's over, man." His smile turned slightly amused then, and he nudged him a little. "So, you still love Helga, Arnold?" He snickered a little.

Arnold blinked at him, and glanced over his shoulder inconspicuously to see Helga writing furiously in a little pink book. A soft, dreamy look came to his eyes, his heart pounding hard, as he answered, quiet enough that Gerald wouldn't hear, "I don't know..."


	9. Arnold Loves Helga: The Sequel

_**Arnold Loves Helga**_

_**The Sequel**_

**_Escalating Love_**

That's right, folks, there IS in fact a sequel. Today I received the millionth review saying a sequel would be great. Well, there IS a sequel. It's been up for quite a while and is already... what? Four chapters in of like 20,000 words each? Heck, some 30,000 or over! These are MONSTER chapters! And so, to make sure everyone who ever reads this story is fully aware, here is the link:

**http :/ /www. fanfiction .net/s/5910237/1/Escalating_Love**

You'll have to remove the spaces of course, as per usual on this silly site, but there it is. :) The sequel! WHOO!

So there we are. Enjoy.

*Sips coffee and exits room*

**~SuprSingr**


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